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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: spring · content · file · bowl · kick · drill · date · deal

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. content — happy
  5. file — a tool
  6. spring — the season
  7. kick — in football
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. spring — a coil
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. drill — a practice
  14. content — the amount
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. deal — to handle
  17. drill — army training
  18. file — a document
  19. drill — the tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. spring — of water
  24. date — the fruit

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