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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. game — wild animals
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — rain
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. spring — of water
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. spring — the season
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. cell — in biology
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bass — the fish
  19. ground — crushed
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. game — a match

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