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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mark — a grade
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. roll — a cake
  5. roll — a list
  6. wound — an injury
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. fall — the season
  9. club — a group
  10. mark — a trace
  11. club — for golf
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. game — a match
  18. wound — an injury
  19. club — for dancing
  20. ball — a great time
  21. fall — to drop
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. game — wild animals
  24. ball — a dance

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