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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bound — tied together
  6. wake — a trail
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. spring — the season
  9. bound — certain
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. spring — of water
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. bound — obliged
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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