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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · wind · foot · chest · race · drill

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. wind — moving air
  3. race — the arms race
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. chest — of your body
  11. race — a contest
  12. wind — moving air
  13. chest — a box
  14. race — humankind
  15. drill — army training
  16. chest — of your body
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — a practice

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