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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mate — a friend
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. mate — a partner
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. spell — magic
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. spell — letters
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. fall — to drop
  12. kid — child
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. kid — to tease
  24. mate — to breed

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