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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. roll — a list
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. drill — a practice
  5. shower — to wash
  6. hand — help
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. hand — in cards
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. drill — army training
  13. bass — low music
  14. court — of a king
  15. rash — a series
  16. roll — a cake
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — the fish
  23. drill — the tool
  24. shower — rain

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