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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. firm — a company
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. march — the month
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. firm — decided
  11. march — music
  12. pit — a hole
  13. spell — letters
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. firm — steady
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. spell — magic
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. spell — a short time
  21. pit — in a race
  22. cold — an illness
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. march — the month

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