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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pitch — completely
  3. game — a match
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. rule — government
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. sharp — clever
  10. rule — a law
  11. game — wild animals
  12. content — happy
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. bark — to shout
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. content — the amount
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. sharp — exactly

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