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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: bowl · game · tube · clip · mine · file · staff · row

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. staff — employees
  6. tube — a container
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. clip — to cut
  10. tube — the underground
  11. game — wild animals
  12. row — a line
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a tool
  17. clip — a video
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. file — a line of people
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. row — to paddle
  23. clip — for paper
  24. row — a quarrel

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