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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. lean — thin
  3. pop — to visit
  4. cell — a phone
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. row — to paddle
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. pop — soda
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. stem — to come from
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bat — the animal
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. row — a line
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. pop — music

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