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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. stem — to come from
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cell — a phone
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. cell — in biology
  18. mine — for digging
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. shower — to wash
  24. wind — moving air

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