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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 120 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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. shower — to wash
  4. last — finally
  5. last — final
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. ground — a position
  8. squash — to crush
  9. shower — rain
  10. ground — crushed
  11. last — to go on
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. stem — to come from
  15. ground — the earth
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bowl — to roll

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