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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 120 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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cap — a hat
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. chest — of your body
  7. scale — in music
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. capital — money
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. hand — help
  18. cap — a lid
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. scale — size or range
  21. cap — of ice
  22. capital — a city
  23. chest — a box
  24. hand — in cards

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