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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — the earth
  4. net — for catching
  5. saw — the tool
  6. stem — to come from
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. net — in sport
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. rock — music
  14. ground — crushed
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. chest — of your body
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. chest — a box
  20. rock — a stone
  21. saw — the tool
  22. net — after costs
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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