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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. march — the month
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. hand — in cards
  8. march — the month
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bat — the animal
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. march — music
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. vault — a safe
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. hand — help
  24. bat — in an idiom

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