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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mug — to rob
  5. field — farmland
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. chip — to eat
  8. mug — a cup
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ball — a great time
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. field — a subject
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. plane — a tool
  17. field — for sport
  18. wind — moving air
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. chip — for betting
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. ball — a round shape

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