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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. march — the month
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. chest — of your body
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. cap — a hat
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a lid
  13. march — music
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. land — a country
  17. land — to come down
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. march — the month
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. rush — hurry
  24. land — ground

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