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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. cap — a lid
  3. bass — low music
  4. swing — in golf
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. swing — to play on
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. cold — not warm
  11. swing — music
  12. cap — of ice
  13. lean — thin
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cap — a hat
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lean — to bend
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. content — videos and posts

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