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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  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. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. content — the amount
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — to visit
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. content — happy
  12. band — a ring
  13. pop — soda
  14. band — a music group
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. ball — a great time
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. ball — a dance
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  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