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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. shower — to wash
  3. land — a country
  4. file — a tool
  5. shower — rain
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. file — a document
  10. roll — a cake
  11. sharp — clever
  12. roll — a list
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. charge — electricity
  15. land — ground
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. land — to come down
  20. charge — in control
  21. file — a line of people
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. charge — a price

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