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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. prune — to trim
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cold — not warm
  10. swing — in golf
  11. vault — a safe
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. swing — to play on
  14. prune — to trim
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. fork — in a road
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. cold — an illness
  24. swing — music

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