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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. That must've been a ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. swing — to play on
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. pop — soda
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. row — to paddle
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — music
  15. row — a line
  16. date — the fruit
  17. mine — for digging
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. swing — music
  23. rush — hurry
  24. swing — in golf

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