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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. craft — a skill
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — to shout
  9. ground — a position
  10. pound — a weight
  11. fall — to drop
  12. last — to go on
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. fall — to drop
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fall — the season
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. ground — crushed
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. craft — boats

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