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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. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. spring — of water
  4. clip — for paper
  5. last — to go on
  6. fine — high quality
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. last — finally
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. last — final
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. spring — the season
  15. wind — moving air
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fine — all right
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. clip — a video
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. spring — a coil
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bowl — a dish

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