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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bat — the animal
  3. net — after costs
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. net — for catching
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. ground — a position
  10. kid — child
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — the earth
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. net — in sport
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. kid — to tease
  24. nail — on a finger

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