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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. mug — a cup
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. mug — to rob
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. ground — a position
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. season — in sport
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. capital — money
  14. foot — a measure
  15. rock — music
  16. row — to paddle
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. row — a line
  19. mug — a face
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — crushed
  22. season — of the year
  23. rock — a stone
  24. foot — the bottom

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