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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bore — to drill
  5. season — in sport
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. season — of the year
  9. last — final
  10. board — a committee
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. last — finally
  13. board — to get on
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. last — to go on
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bore — to tire
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. pitch — completely
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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