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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. degree — from a university
  8. spring — the season
  9. bank — for money
  10. bank — for money
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. perch — the fish
  15. degree — temperature
  16. spring — a coil
  17. degree — an amount
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — for digging
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. spring — of water
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. bank — of a river

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