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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. season — in sport
  3. scale — in music
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — the amount
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. last — to go on
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. last — finally
  10. spring — of water
  11. content — happy
  12. ball — a dance
  13. last — final
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. spring — a coil
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. spring — the season
  24. season — of the year

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