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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. spring — of water
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. rest — a break
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. mark — a trace
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — letters
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. mark — a grade
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spring — the season
  15. spell — magic
  16. mine — for digging
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bat — the animal
  19. rest — what's left
  20. spring — a coil
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bowl — a dish

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