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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. roll — a cake
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. kick — in football
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. court — for sport
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. stand — to bear
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. court — of a king
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. roll — a list
  20. date — the fruit
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. court — of law
  24. stand — for spectators

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