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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. land — a country
  3. hand — help
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. land — ground
  7. bat — the animal
  8. season — in sport
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. land — to come down
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. shower — to wash
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. shower — rain
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. season — of the year

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