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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. face — to confront
  3. clip — for paper
  4. land — a country
  5. pop — to visit
  6. clip — a video
  7. land — to come down
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. pop — music
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. land — ground
  13. pop — soda
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bark — to shout
  20. face — to point toward
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. face — part of the head
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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