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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. track — a path
  5. net — in sport
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — a leader
  8. content — happy
  9. net — for catching
  10. fine — high quality
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. spring — a coil
  13. content — the amount
  14. fine — all right
  15. spring — the season
  16. squash — the sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. squash — to crush
  19. track — a song
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. spring — of water
  23. track — to keep track
  24. squash — the vegetable

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