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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. pit — in a race
  3. spring — the season
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. pit — a hole
  8. root — of a plant
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. spring — of water
  13. root — of a word
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — rain
  18. cue — for pool
  19. game — a match
  20. cue — a signal
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cue — a hint
  23. shower — to wash
  24. root — the cause

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