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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. fall — the season
  4. sharp — clever
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. season — in sport
  9. kid — child
  10. cell — a phone
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. cell — in biology
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. kid — to tease
  18. season — of the year
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. fall — to drop
  23. shower — rain
  24. pound — a weight

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