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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. rush — hurry
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. present — the time now
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. fork — in a road
  7. bass — low music
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. snap — to click
  10. bass — the fish
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. cold — an illness
  15. present — there
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. present — a gift
  23. stem — to come from
  24. cold — not warm

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