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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mark — a trace
  3. saw — the tool
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pound — a weight
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. fall — to drop
  12. mark — a grade
  13. saw — the tool
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. key — for a lock
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. key — the most important part
  19. band — a music group
  20. fall — the season
  21. band — a ring
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. key — in music
  24. bat — for baseball

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