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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. race — humankind
  3. charge — in control
  4. spring — of water
  5. pop — to visit
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. fall — to drop
  9. charge — electricity
  10. plane — a tool
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. race — a contest
  14. charge — a price
  15. race — the arms race
  16. fall — to drop
  17. spring — the season
  18. fall — the season
  19. pop — music
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pop — soda
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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