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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. bank — for money
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. pound — a weight
  8. current — of water
  9. key — the most important part
  10. pitch — completely
  11. key — in music
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bank — of a river
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. current — electric
  17. spring — the season
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bank — for money
  20. spring — of water
  21. key — for a lock
  22. cold — an illness
  23. current — happening now
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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