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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 116 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. march — the month
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. spell — magic
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bore — to drill
  8. spell — a short time
  9. march — music
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bore — to tire
  17. snap — to click
  18. march — the month
  19. spell — letters
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. deal — to handle
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. cold — not warm

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