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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 120 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 ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. tear — to rip
  4. foot — a measure
  5. mine — for digging
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. ground — the earth
  8. track — to keep track
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. ground — crushed
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. ground — a position
  16. track — a song
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. track — a path
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. vault — a safe
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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