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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. shower — rain
  3. ground — a position
  4. fork — in a road
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. snap — to click
  7. file — a line of people
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. ground — crushed
  15. file — a tool
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. shower — to wash
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. roll — a list
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. file — a document
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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