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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. season — of the year
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. kid — to tease
  8. root — of a plant
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. root — the cause
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bat — the animal
  18. season — in sport
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. root — of a word
  24. kid — child

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