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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wind — moving air
  3. track — to keep track
  4. wind — moving air
  5. degree — temperature
  6. row — a line
  7. track — a song
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. track — a path
  13. hand — in cards
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. row — to paddle
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — an amount
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. fine — all right
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. hand — help
  24. fine — high quality

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