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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: row · bat · clip · deal · temple · face · ground · bowl

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bat — the animal
  4. face — to confront
  5. ground — a position
  6. row — a line
  7. ground — crushed
  8. clip — a video
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. row — to paddle
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. ground — the earth
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. deal — to handle
  24. clip — to cut

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