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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. drill — a practice
  4. rule — government
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. drill — army training
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. drill — the tool
  10. dip — to sink
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. spring — of water
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. season — in sport
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. rule — a law
  24. bowl — a football final

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