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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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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: cold · bat · date · court · roll · clip · bowl · cue

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cue — a hint
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. court — of law
  7. roll — a cake
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cold — not warm
  10. court — of a king
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. roll — a list
  13. cue — a signal
  14. clip — a video
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. cold — an illness
  17. court — for sport
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cue — for pool
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. date — the fruit
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. roll — on a roll

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