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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 116 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. net — after costs
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. capital — money
  7. clip — a video
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. net — for catching
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. capital — a city
  15. rash — a series
  16. net — in sport
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. bear — the animal
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. bore — to drill
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bear — the animal

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