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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 116 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. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. cold — an illness
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a tool
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. craft — a skill
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. craft — boats
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. file — a line of people

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