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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. race — a contest
  3. wind — moving air
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. mate — to breed
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. race — the arms race
  15. game — wild animals
  16. mate — a friend
  17. hand — in cards
  18. tube — a container
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. wind — moving air
  21. game — a match
  22. race — humankind
  23. tube — the underground
  24. mate — a partner

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