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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. scale — in music
  3. chest — a box
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. ball — a dance
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wake — a trail
  14. clip — to cut
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. saw — the tool
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — for weighing

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