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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. ball — a great time
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. fall — to drop
  6. land — ground
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. game — wild animals
  14. ball — a dance
  15. squash — to crush
  16. present — a gift
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. present — there
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. present — the time now
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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