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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · file · spring · clip · sharp · mouse · cold · face

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. spring — the season
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. file — a tool
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. file — a document
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. clip — a video
  19. cold — not warm
  20. spring — of water
  21. file — a line of people
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — part of the head
  24. mouse — the animal

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