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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. date — the fruit
  3. fall — to drop
  4. kid — child
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. fall — to drop
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. fall — the season
  10. track — to keep track
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. kid — to tease
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. game — a match
  20. rush — hurry
  21. track — a song
  22. track — a path
  23. game — wild animals
  24. rush — a thrill

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