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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. race — a contest
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — happy
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. race — humankind
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. race — the arms race
  19. vault — a safe
  20. date — the fruit
  21. cold — an illness
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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