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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. bat — the animal
  4. swing — to play on
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. track — a path
  9. track — a song
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. swing — music
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. stand — to bear
  19. ground — crushed
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. ground — a position
  22. file — a document
  23. track — to keep track
  24. swing — in golf

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