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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — a line
  4. ground — crushed
  5. game — a match
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. field — for sport
  9. ground — a position
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. ground — the earth
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. field — a subject
  16. bass — low music
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. sharp — clever
  19. stand — to bear
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. game — wild animals
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. field — farmland
  24. bass — the fish

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