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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spell — letters
  3. march — music
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. march — the month
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. kick — in football
  9. tube — a container
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. spell — magic
  13. march — the month
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. dip — to sink
  23. spell — a short time
  24. tube — the underground

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