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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. dip — to sink
  4. fine — high quality
  5. deal — to handle
  6. fine — all right
  7. cap — a hat
  8. branch — a division
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. cap — a lid
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. bat — the animal
  21. clip — a video
  22. cap — of ice
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. clip — to cut

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