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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cell — a phone
  3. drill — a practice
  4. drill — army training
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. drill — the tool
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — to grow
  16. dip — to sink
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. cell — in biology

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