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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. land — to come down
  6. capital — a city
  7. spell — a short time
  8. land — a country
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bat — the animal
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wound — an injury
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. spell — letters
  18. file — a tool
  19. spell — magic
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. land — ground
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. safe — out of danger

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