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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. shower — rain
  4. drill — a practice
  5. shower — to wash
  6. game — a match
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — crushed
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. court — of law
  13. mark — a trace
  14. drill — army training
  15. game — wild animals
  16. court — for sport
  17. ground — a position
  18. season — in sport
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. season — of the year
  21. mark — a grade
  22. court — of a king
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bowl — a football final

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