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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 116 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. swing — to play on
  5. swing — music
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. stem — to come from
  8. bark — to shout
  9. face — to confront
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. spell — magic
  12. bass — low music
  13. swing — in golf
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. spell — letters
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. clip — a video
  20. spell — a short time
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. face — to point toward
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. bass — the fish

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