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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. net — after costs
  4. track — to keep track
  5. fall — to drop
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. wind — moving air
  10. clip — a video
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. net — for catching
  13. pitch — completely
  14. clip — to cut
  15. net — in sport
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. fall — the season
  18. track — a song
  19. track — a path
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. fall — to drop
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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