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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. kid — child
  3. march — the month
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. club — for golf
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. club — for dancing
  11. mark — a grade
  12. march — music
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mark — a trace
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. club — a group
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. march — the month
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. tear — from crying

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