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

Word bank: face · straw · bowl · fork · dip · squash · staff · clip

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. face — to confront
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. staff — a stick
  10. face — to point toward
  11. squash — the sport
  12. clip — for paper
  13. squash — to crush
  14. face — part of the head
  15. staff — employees
  16. clip — to cut
  17. staff — employees
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. fork — in a road
  23. clip — a video
  24. 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