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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. court — of a king
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. swing — in golf
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. swing — to play on
  8. roll — a cake
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. court — for sport
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pit — in a race
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. pit — a hole
  21. roll — a list
  22. court — of law
  23. swing — music
  24. bowl — a football final

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