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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. prune — to trim
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. swing — music
  9. last — to go on
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. last — final
  12. kid — child
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. capital — money
  16. stand — to bear
  17. capital — a city
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. last — finally
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. prune — to trim
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — to play on

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