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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 120 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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Word bank
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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. ball — a great time
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. wind — moving air
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. ball — a dance
  8. cell — a phone
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — certain
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wind — moving air
  19. drill — the tool
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

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