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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 120 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. spell — magic
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. bat — the animal
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. spell — letters
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. field — farmland
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. rush — hurry
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. deal — to handle

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