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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. band — a ring
  3. kick — in football
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. fine — all right
  7. bat — the animal
  8. fine — high quality
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. band — a music group
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. wound — an injury

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