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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. present — the time now
  4. bat — the animal
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. snap — to click
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. land — a country
  10. saw — the tool
  11. present — there
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. capital — a city
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. land — ground
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. land — to come down
  21. present — a gift
  22. capital — money
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. saw — the tool

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