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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 120 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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spring — of water
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. fall — to drop
  6. court — of law
  7. sharp — clever
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bear — the animal
  10. court — for sport
  11. bear — the animal
  12. spring — the season
  13. key — the most important part
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. key — for a lock
  16. fall — the season
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. court — of a king
  20. squash — to crush
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. key — in music

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