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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. swing — music
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. fine — high quality
  7. hand — in cards
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. roll — a cake
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — in golf
  13. row — a line
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. press — a publisher
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. roll — a list
  19. spring — of water
  20. fine — all right
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. press — to push
  23. press — newspapers
  24. row — to paddle

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