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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wake — a trail
  8. march — the month
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. march — music
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. chest — a box
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. dip — to sink
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. march — the month
  20. wound — an injury
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a music group
  24. chest — of your body

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