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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. field — for sport
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. bound — certain
  6. season — of the year
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bound — tied together
  11. field — farmland
  12. rock — a stone
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. rock — music
  15. season — in sport
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. hand — help
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. field — a subject
  24. rock — to move gently

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