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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. court — of a king
  8. pit — in a race
  9. scale — size or range
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bass — low music
  14. pit — a hole
  15. spring — of water
  16. bass — the fish
  17. cold — not warm
  18. court — of law
  19. cold — an illness
  20. court — for sport
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. scale — in music
  23. spring — the season
  24. bowl — to roll

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