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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. chest — of your body
  3. spring — a coil
  4. field — a subject
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. spring — of water
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. spring — the season
  13. tube — a container
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. field — for sport
  19. sharp — clever
  20. field — farmland
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. tube — the underground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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