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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 120 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. content — the amount
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. plane — a tool
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. hand — help
  9. bass — low music
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bass — the fish
  13. kick — in football
  14. hand — in cards
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. content — happy
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. stand — to bear

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