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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. staff — employees
  4. season — of the year
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. game — wild animals
  9. shower — rain
  10. fall — the season
  11. last — finally
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. season — in sport
  16. shower — to wash
  17. staff — employees
  18. pop — to visit
  19. staff — a stick
  20. last — final
  21. last — to go on
  22. fall — to drop
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. season — to add flavour

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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