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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. roll — a list
  9. roll — a cake
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. game — wild animals
  19. mine — for digging
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. game — a match
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. wound — an injury
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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