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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: spell · jam · bowl · drill · kid · date

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. spell — letters
  5. kid — to tease
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — the tool
  12. spell — magic
  13. drill — a practice
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. date — the fruit
  17. spell — a short time
  18. kid — child

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