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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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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: row · march · stand · bowl · fork · saw · wave · clip

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  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. wave — of the sea
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. stand — to bear
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. row — a line
  11. fork — in a road
  12. row — to paddle
  13. march — music
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. saw — the tool
  16. march — the month
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. march — the month
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. stand — for spectators
  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