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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. file — a tool
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. pitch — completely
  6. squash — the sport
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. spell — a short time
  10. squash — to crush
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. bound — certain
  13. spell — magic
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bat — the animal
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. file — a line of people
  20. prune — to trim
  21. spell — letters
  22. file — a document
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. bound — tied together

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