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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. wind — moving air
  3. staff — a stick
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. wind — moving air
  6. last — final
  7. perch — the fish
  8. file — a line of people
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. last — finally
  11. staff — employees
  12. last — to go on
  13. dip — to sink
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. file — a tool
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. game — wild animals
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. staff — employees
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. file — a document
  24. game — a match

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