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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 124 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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. clip — to cut
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — to be able to
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. cell — a phone
  10. can — a tin
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. cell — in biology
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bulb — for light
  17. field — farmland
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bore — to drill
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. clip — a video
  23. bulb — for light
  24. mark — a trace

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