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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. game — a match
  4. dip — to sink
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. spring — the season
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. race — humankind
  11. spring — a coil
  12. game — wild animals
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. race — the arms race
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. pitch — completely
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. date — the fruit
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. spring — of water
  23. race — a contest
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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