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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · fall · cell · game · pound · clip

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — a phone
  6. fall — to drop
  7. clip — to cut
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. pound — a weight
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. clip — a video
  18. game — a match

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