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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. net — for catching
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. march — the month
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. net — after costs
  9. spring — a coil
  10. shower — to wash
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. race — humankind
  13. spring — the season
  14. march — music
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. race — a contest
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. shower — rain
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — the animal
  21. spring — of water
  22. march — the month
  23. net — in sport
  24. race — the arms race

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