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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 120 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. foot — a measure
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cold — an illness
  5. file — a document
  6. mark — a trace
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. file — a line of people
  10. drill — a practice
  11. mark — a grade
  12. file — a tool
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mate — a partner
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. drill — the tool
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. drill — army training
  24. mate — a friend

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