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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. band — a ring
  3. content — the amount
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. band — a music group
  6. face — to confront
  7. spell — a short time
  8. face — part of the head
  9. land — to come down
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. fall — to drop
  12. land — a country
  13. content — happy
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. fall — to drop
  16. spell — letters
  17. face — to point toward
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. land — ground
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. fall — the season
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. spell — magic

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