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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. file — a tool
  6. ground — crushed
  7. present — the time now
  8. ground — a position
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. row — a line
  11. present — there
  12. swing — in golf
  13. present — a gift
  14. file — a line of people
  15. swing — music
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. ground — the earth
  18. file — a document
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bowl — a football final

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