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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. date — the fruit
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bulb — for light
  10. capital — a city
  11. bulb — for light
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bound — obliged
  14. row — a line
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. bound — certain

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