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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. file — a tool
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. clip — for paper
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. clip — a video
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. face — to confront
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. face — part of the head
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. file — a document
  18. fork — in a road
  19. clip — to cut
  20. file — a line of people
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. face — to point toward

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