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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. pound — a weight
  10. last — final
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. wind — moving air
  14. hand — in cards
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — finally
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. hand — help
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pit — in a race

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