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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. rash — hasty
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. game — wild animals
  5. race — the arms race
  6. pitch — completely
  7. spring — of water
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. race — humankind
  15. race — a contest
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. game — a match
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. perch — the fish
  23. rash — a series
  24. cabinet — ministers

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