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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 120 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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — of water
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. net — in sport
  11. dip — to sink
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. net — for catching
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. net — after costs
  21. file — a document
  22. stem — to come from
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. spring — the season

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