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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. track — to keep track
  5. wake — a trail
  6. mug — a cup
  7. capital — a city
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. rush — hurry
  10. capital — money
  11. mug — to rob
  12. pop — soda
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pop — to visit
  18. track — a song
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. mug — a face
  21. track — a path
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pop — music

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