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

Word bank: foot · bowl · kid · bear · wound · swing

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  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. bear — to put up with
  3. foot — a measure
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bear — the animal
  6. swing — in golf
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. swing — music
  10. wound — an injury
  11. swing — to play on
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bear — the animal
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. wound — an injury
  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