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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. drill — army training
  8. squash — the sport
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. spring — the season
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. drill — a practice
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. spring — of water
  17. prune — to trim
  18. ball — a great time
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. ball — a dance
  21. squash — to crush
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. spring — a coil
  24. prune — to trim

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