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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. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. root — of a plant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. chest — of your body
  7. root — of a word
  8. root — the cause
  9. tube — the underground
  10. clip — a video
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pop — music
  13. lie — to recline
  14. clip — for paper
  15. tube — a container
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. chest — a box
  19. pop — soda
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — completely

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