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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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Word bank
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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. game — wild animals
  4. field — a subject
  5. mate — to breed
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. mate — a friend
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. field — farmland
  16. mate — a partner
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. field — for sport
  20. saw — the tool
  21. game — a match
  22. saw — the tool
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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