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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spell — letters
  3. mate — a partner
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. spell — a short time
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. spell — magic
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. season — of the year
  13. capital — money
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. season — in sport
  16. bark — to shout
  17. mate — a friend
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — animal skin

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