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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. cold — not warm
  5. net — after costs
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. craft — a skill
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. vault — a safe
  12. net — in sport
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. file — a tool
  15. craft — boats
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. bound — certain
  21. shower — rain
  22. net — for catching
  23. file — a document
  24. bound — tied together

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