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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. clip — a video
  6. snap — to click
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. clip — to cut
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. pitch — completely
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. toast — bread
  19. land — a country
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. land — ground
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. land — to come down
  24. coach — a trainer

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