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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. mate — a partner
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. march — the month
  5. chip — for betting
  6. field — for sport
  7. game — a match
  8. march — the month
  9. field — a subject
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. march — music
  14. mate — to breed
  15. chip — to eat
  16. mate — a friend
  17. stand — to bear
  18. shower — to wash
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. game — wild animals
  23. field — farmland
  24. shower — rain

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