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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 120 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. present — a gift
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. present — there
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wind — moving air
  12. present — the time now
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mine — for digging
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ground — the earth
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. ground — a position
  22. clip — a video
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. ruler — for measuring

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