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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. perch — the fish
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. hand — help
  7. wax — to grow
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. kid — child
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. hand — in cards
  13. vault — a safe
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. row — a line
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. deal — to handle
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. wax — in the ear

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