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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. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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. last — to go on
  4. roll — a cake
  5. last — final
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. rock — a stone
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. rock — music
  12. game — a match
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. roll — a list
  16. game — wild animals
  17. last — finally
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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