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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 120 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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. pitch — completely
  4. cue — a hint
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. race — humankind
  10. perch — the fish
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. scale — size or range
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. race — the arms race
  16. rush — hurry
  17. scale — in music
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cue — for pool
  20. cue — a signal
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. race — a contest
  23. saw — the tool
  24. pitch — a sports field

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