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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mate — a friend
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. kid — child
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. rule — government
  9. perch — the fish
  10. date — the fruit
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. rule — a law
  13. clip — to cut
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. mate — a partner
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. kid — to tease
  21. clip — for paper
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. date — on the calendar

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