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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. squash — the sport
  3. capital — money
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. drill — the tool
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. squash — to crush
  9. drill — a practice
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. plane — a tool
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. clip — to cut
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. drill — army training
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. clip — a video
  24. capital — a city

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com