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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. mate — a friend
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. capital — money
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. capital — a city
  17. branch — a division
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mate — to breed
  20. wind — moving air
  21. lie — to recline
  22. mate — a partner
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. date — on the calendar

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