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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. net — after costs
  5. band — a music group
  6. bound — certain
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a match
  10. date — the fruit
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. bound — obliged
  13. net — for catching
  14. file — a tool
  15. bound — tied together
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bear — the animal
  20. band — a ring
  21. net — in sport
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. file — a document
  24. band — a rubber band

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