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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mine — for digging
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mark — a grade
  11. clip — a video
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. present — there
  18. present — a gift
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lie — to recline
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. present — the time now
  23. mark — a trace
  24. lean — thin

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