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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. band — a music group
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. tube — a container
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. clip — a video
  10. bass — the fish
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bass — low music
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. cold — not warm
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. lie — to recline
  23. band — a ring
  24. lie — an untruth

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