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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. lean — thin
  4. club — for dancing
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cold — not warm
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. club — for golf
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pit — in a race
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. content — the amount
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. content — happy
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. pit — a hole
  24. club — a 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