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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  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 — a football final
  2. swing — music
  3. cold — not warm
  4. row — a line
  5. cold — an illness
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. spring — of water
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. swing — in golf
  12. net — in sport
  13. kid — child
  14. spring — a coil
  15. swing — to play on
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. row — to paddle
  18. spring — the season
  19. net — for catching
  20. kid — to tease
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. net — after costs
  23. row — a quarrel
  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