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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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. race — humankind
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. wake — a trail
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. band — a ring
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. perch — the fish
  14. race — the arms race
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — to recline
  17. stem — to come from
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. saw — the tool
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. saw — the tool
  23. race — a contest
  24. band — a music group

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