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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. face — to point toward
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. face — to confront
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. land — a country
  22. face — part of the head
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. content — happy

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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