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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. spring — of water
  5. field — a subject
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. field — for sport
  10. lie — to recline
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. field — farmland
  13. roll — a cake
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. spring — a coil
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. roll — a list
  20. clip — for paper
  21. spring — the season
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pitch — completely
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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