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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. court — for sport
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chair — a leader
  8. court — of a king
  9. bound — obliged
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bound — tied together
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bound — certain
  15. court — of law
  16. row — a line
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. hand — help
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. plane — a tool

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