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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. rock — music
  11. rock — a stone
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. net — in sport
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. net — after costs
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mark — a grade
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. net — for catching
  24. kick — in football

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