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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 116 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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. game — a match
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. kick — in football
  7. rush — hurry
  8. row — a line
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — a leader
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. degree — temperature
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. degree — an amount
  22. game — wild animals
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. degree — from a university

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