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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. field — farmland
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. band — a ring
  5. craft — a skill
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. craft — boats
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. fall — the season
  11. field — for sport
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. fall — to drop
  14. band — a music group
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. field — a subject
  18. fall — to drop
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. craft — a handicraft

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