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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. scale — size or range
  3. club — a group
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. clip — for paper
  6. scale — in music
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. file — a line of people
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. clip — a video
  13. file — a document
  14. rush — hurry
  15. hand — in cards
  16. club — for dancing
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. file — a tool
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. hand — help
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. club — for golf
  24. clip — to cut

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