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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: deal · toast · net · march · pitcher · file · spring · bowl

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. toast — bread
  3. march — the month
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. net — in sport
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. spring — of water
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. file — a document
  16. net — for catching
  17. spring — a coil
  18. net — after costs
  19. spring — the season
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. deal — to handle
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. file — a tool

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