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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. wake — a trail
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bore — to drill
  6. tube — a container
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. field — a subject
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. wind — moving air
  13. field — farmland
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. bore — to tire
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. kid — child
  18. wind — moving air
  19. dip — to sink
  20. tube — the underground
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. field — for sport

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