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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: game · bowl · straw · bay · craft · net · clip · roll

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. roll — a cake
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — in sport
  5. craft — boats
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. net — after costs
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. craft — a skill
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. roll — a list
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. game — wild animals
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. game — a match
  24. clip — a video

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