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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bound — tied together
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. cell — a phone
  6. date — the fruit
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. march — the month
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bound — certain
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. bound — obliged
  15. pound — a weight
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. cell — in biology
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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