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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 120 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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. deal — to handle
  3. band — a ring
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. current — electric
  7. band — a music group
  8. current — of water
  9. row — a line
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. capital — a city
  12. row — to paddle
  13. clip — a video
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. capital — money
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. current — happening now
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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