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

Word bank: clip · rest · scale · cap · kick · bowl

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. scale — size or range
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. rest — a break
  6. cap — a lid
  7. clip — to cut
  8. kick — in football
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cap — a hat
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. cap — of ice
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bowl — a football final

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