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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bass — low music
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. wind — moving air
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bass — the fish
  21. clip — for paper
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. jam — in traffic

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