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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spring — of water
  3. current — electric
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. swing — music
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. spring — the season
  11. swing — in golf
  12. current — happening now
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. swing — to play on
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — humankind
  19. current — of water
  20. lean — to bend
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. lean — thin
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. race — the arms race

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