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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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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. spell — a short time
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. race — the arms race
  7. perch — the fish
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. cold — an illness
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. fall — the season
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. cold — not warm
  20. spell — magic
  21. bass — low music
  22. spell — letters
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. nail — on a finger

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