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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cold — not warm
  5. branch — a division
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. key — the most important part
  9. key — for a lock
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a dance
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. key — in music
  17. prune — to trim
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fork — in a road
  20. cold — an illness
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. fork — a garden 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