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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. file — a line of people
  3. file — a document
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. file — a tool
  7. rush — hurry
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. march — music
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. march — the month
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. season — in sport
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. season — of the year
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. march — the month

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