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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. wind — moving air
  5. rule — a law
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. scale — in music
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. rule — government
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. face — to confront
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. face — to point toward
  24. stem — of a plant

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