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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. shower — rain
  7. degree — from a university
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. degree — temperature
  10. file — a line of people
  11. fork — in a road
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. file — a document
  14. shower — to wash
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. file — a tool
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. fork — to eat with

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