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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ground — crushed
  6. clip — a video
  7. degree — from a university
  8. spring — a coil
  9. degree — temperature
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — the earth
  14. scale — in music
  15. spring — of water
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. mug — a face
  18. content — happy
  19. spring — the season
  20. scale — size or range
  21. content — the amount
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. mug — a cup
  24. mug — to rob

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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