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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: bowl · wind · clip · mate · pop · deal · rash · board

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. rash — a series
  3. rash — hasty
  4. board — a committee
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. wind — moving air
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. board — to get on
  12. mate — a partner
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. mate — a friend
  16. pop — soda
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pop — to visit
  20. deal — to handle
  21. mate — to breed
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pop — music
  24. bowl — a dish

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