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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. march — music
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. kid — child
  6. wind — moving air
  7. march — the month
  8. cell — in biology
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. deal — to handle
  13. press — a publisher
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. press — newspapers
  17. fork — in a road
  18. kid — to tease
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. march — the month
  21. cell — a phone
  22. press — to push
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. deal — an agreement

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