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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rock — music
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. key — for a lock
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. root — of a plant
  9. root — of a word
  10. key — the most important part
  11. root — the cause
  12. key — in music
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. season — of the year
  16. squash — the sport
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — in sport
  24. squash — to crush

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