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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. roll — a list
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chest — a box
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. mate — a friend
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. chest — of your body
  14. roll — a cake
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. perch — the fish
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mate — a partner
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. mate — to breed
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. perch — for a bird

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