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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. sharp — clever
  3. file — a document
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. clip — a video
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. file — a line of people
  8. game — a match
  9. spell — magic
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — to point toward
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spell — a short time
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. face — part of the head
  20. clip — for paper
  21. spell — letters
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. game — wild animals
  24. file — a tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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