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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — in sport
  3. pop — soda
  4. cap — a lid
  5. file — a tool
  6. ball — a dance
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. cap — a hat
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. spell — magic
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cap — of ice
  14. pop — to visit
  15. file — a document
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. pop — music
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. spell — a short time
  21. file — a line of people
  22. spell — letters
  23. season — of the year
  24. ball — a great time

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