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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. lie — to recline
  3. swing — music
  4. hand — help
  5. swing — to play on
  6. file — a line of people
  7. swing — in golf
  8. file — a tool
  9. pass — a permit
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. roll — a list
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. roll — a cake
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. file — a document
  24. dip — to sink

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