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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. spring — of water
  5. hand — help
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spring — the season
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. wind — moving air
  10. face — part of the head
  11. key — for a lock
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. key — in music
  14. key — the most important part
  15. drill — army training
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. face — to confront
  20. face — to point toward
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — the tool
  23. hand — in cards
  24. wind — moving air

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