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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. row — a line
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. row — to paddle
  8. chair — a leader
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cold — not warm
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. sharp — clever
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. chair — a professorship

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