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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. saw — the tool
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. saw — the tool
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. ball — a great time
  12. swing — in golf
  13. mine — for digging
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. swing — music
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a match
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. rush — hurry
  20. row — to paddle
  21. swing — to play on
  22. row — a line
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. bowl — a football final

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