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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. chip — to eat
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rush — hurry
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. degree — from a university
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. chip — for betting
  19. degree — temperature
  20. clip — a video
  21. spell — letters
  22. bat — the animal
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

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