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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 120 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. hand — help
  3. bound — tied together
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. plane — a tool
  6. hand — in cards
  7. face — to confront
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — obliged
  14. face — part of the head
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. face — to point toward
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. hand — part of the body

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