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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 120 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. perch — the fish
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. rock — music
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. tube — a container
  8. spring — of water
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. land — a country
  11. land — to come down
  12. capital — a city
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. capital — money
  15. spring — the season
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. land — ground
  19. rock — a stone
  20. row — to paddle
  21. tube — the underground
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. spring — a coil

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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