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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: bowl · clip · season · calf · bat · ground · track · squash

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. season — in sport
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — crushed
  13. track — a song
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. season — of the year
  16. track — a path
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. clip — to cut
  19. track — to keep track
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. squash — to crush
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. ground — a position

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