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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. roll — a list
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. roll — a cake
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — to crush
  14. board — to get on
  15. content — happy
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. content — the amount
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. cold — not warm
  21. board — a committee
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mouse — for a computer

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