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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. pit — a hole
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. mark — a trace
  9. branch — a division
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. row — a line
  13. wake — a trail
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. spring — the season
  17. object — a thing
  18. spring — a coil
  19. row — to paddle
  20. spring — of water
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. mark — a grade
  23. object — to protest
  24. object — an aim

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