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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. face — part of the head
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. can — a tin
  7. degree — from a university
  8. can — a tin
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. face — to confront
  11. degree — an amount
  12. hand — help
  13. clip — a video
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. wind — moving air
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. clip — for paper
  19. degree — temperature
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wind — moving air
  23. face — to point toward
  24. bowl — to roll

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