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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. land — to come down
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bark — to shout
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. spell — letters
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. spell — magic
  10. bank — for money
  11. bank — of a river
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. pop — to visit
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. land — a country
  18. pop — soda
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. spell — a short time
  21. land — ground
  22. pop — music
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. bank — for money

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