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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. That must've been a ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. snap — to click
  4. bound — obliged
  5. land — a country
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. can — a tin
  8. spell — letters
  9. game — a match
  10. land — ground
  11. bound — certain
  12. can — a tin
  13. land — to come down
  14. spell — magic
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. rush — hurry
  17. spell — a short time
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. bound — tied together
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. can — to be able to
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bowl — to roll

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