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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. season — in sport
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. ground — a position
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. degree — from a university
  14. lean — to bend
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. lean — thin
  18. season — of the year
  19. date — the fruit
  20. ground — crushed
  21. ground — the earth
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — temperature

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