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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: march · roll · clip · spring · lie · file · bulb · bowl

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. clip — a video
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. march — the month
  8. file — a document
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. file — a tool
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bulb — for light
  14. spring — the season
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. spring — of water
  18. march — the month
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. lie — to recline
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. march — music
  23. spring — a coil
  24. roll — a list

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