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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: ball · bowl · suit · bat · clip · fork · spell · cold

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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 — to roll
  2. clip — a video
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. suit — clothes
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spell — letters
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. spell — magic
  17. suit — to fit
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. suit — in cards
  20. ball — a great time
  21. spell — a short time
  22. ball — a dance
  23. bat — for baseball
  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