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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. spring — a coil
  5. hand — in cards
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. hand — help
  8. chip — to eat
  9. fall — the season
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. chip — for betting
  12. fall — to drop
  13. field — for sport
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. stem — to come from
  18. field — a subject
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. field — farmland
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bowl — a football final

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