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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. rock — music
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cell — in biology
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. file — a line of people
  8. rest — a break
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. cell — a phone
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rock — a stone
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. file — a tool
  16. net — in sport
  17. file — a document
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. clip — a video
  20. rest — what's left
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — after costs
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cell — in a prison

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