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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. degree — from a university
  7. season — of the year
  8. root — the cause
  9. scale — in music
  10. shower — rain
  11. hand — help
  12. degree — an amount
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. root — of a plant
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. sharp — clever
  18. root — of a word
  19. hand — in cards
  20. degree — temperature
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. season — in sport
  24. scale — size or range

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