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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. chip — to eat
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. branch — a division
  6. file — a document
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. bore — to drill
  12. lean — thin
  13. squash — to crush
  14. chip — for betting
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. bore — to tire
  21. file — a tool
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. squash — the sport
  24. chip — in a computer

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