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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. suit — in cards
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. chest — a box
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. suit — to fit
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. rush — hurry
  24. suit — clothes

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