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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. band — a music group
  4. spell — magic
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pop — to visit
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. pop — soda
  12. rest — a break
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. capital — money
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — a group
  18. pop — music
  19. rest — what's left
  20. spell — letters
  21. band — a ring
  22. spell — a short time
  23. capital — a city
  24. club — for dancing

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