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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. cell — a phone
  4. root — of a word
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. press — to push
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mark — a grade
  10. cell — in biology
  11. land — ground
  12. root — of a plant
  13. clip — a video
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. mark — a trace
  16. root — the cause
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. land — to come down
  19. press — a publisher
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. land — a country

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