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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. fork — in a road
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. last — final
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wind — moving air
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. wind — moving air
  24. scale — in music

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