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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. swing — to play on
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. rash — hasty
  5. row — a line
  6. wound — an injury
  7. court — of law
  8. swing — in golf
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. rash — a series
  14. season — in sport
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. court — for sport
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. wound — an injury
  19. swing — music
  20. season — of the year
  21. court — of a king
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. row — to paddle
  24. fan — a supporter

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