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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wound — an injury
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. kick — in football
  7. stock — shares
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. game — wild animals
  11. row — a line
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. chair — a leader
  14. row — to paddle
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — a match
  21. stock — goods
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. stock — a soup base

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