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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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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. club — for golf
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. club — for dancing
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. kid — child
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — letters
  13. kid — to tease
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. club — a group
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. spell — magic

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