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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 116 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: bowl · fall · cell · game · pound · clip · season · cue

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. cue — a signal
  5. game — a match
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. cell — in biology
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. season — of the year
  15. game — wild animals
  16. fall — to drop
  17. clip — to cut
  18. season — in sport
  19. fall — the season
  20. pound — a weight
  21. clip — a video
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. cue — for pool
  24. pound — for dogs

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