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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 120 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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. firm — decided
  3. firm — a company
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. wind — moving air
  7. firm — steady
  8. saw — the tool
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. capital — a city
  20. wound — an injury
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wind — moving air
  24. capital — money

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