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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  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. mate — a friend
  2. track — a path
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bat — the animal
  6. plane — a tool
  7. mate — a partner
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. track — to keep track
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. clip — to cut
  14. row — a line
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. track — a song
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. mate — to breed
  24. clip — a video

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