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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 was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. game — a match
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fall — the season
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. row — a line
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. capital — money
  15. kid — child
  16. fall — to drop
  17. game — wild animals
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. capital — a city
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wind — moving air
  24. court — of a king

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