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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. band — a ring
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. net — after costs
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. saw — the tool
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. bound — obliged
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. bound — certain
  12. saw — the tool
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. clip — to cut
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. bound — tied together
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. clip — a video
  21. lie — to recline
  22. net — for catching
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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