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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. degree — an amount
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. rock — music
  18. degree — from a university
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. rock — a stone
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. bark — to shout
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. fine — a penalty

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