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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. last — finally
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. last — final
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. pitch — completely
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. last — to go on
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. sharp — clever

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