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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pound — a weight
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. kid — child
  7. wind — moving air
  8. lean — to bend
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. lean — thin
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. stem — to come from
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. cell — in biology
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — of a plant

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