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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. pop — music
  4. bore — to drill
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. pop — to visit
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bore — to tire
  10. drill — a practice
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. file — a tool
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. file — a line of people
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wake — a trail
  21. file — a document
  22. drill — army training
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. pop — soda

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