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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. clip — a video
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — magic
  6. deal — to handle
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. rock — a stone
  12. spell — a short time
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bat — the animal
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. rock — music
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cold — not warm
  24. safe — out of danger

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