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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — thin
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mate — to breed
  7. chest — of your body
  8. squash — to crush
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. lean — to bend
  12. squash — the sport
  13. mate — a friend
  14. chest — a box
  15. wound — an injury
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. mate — a partner
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. hand — help

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