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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: chest · mine · bowl · saw · ball · rule · wave · march

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. ball — a dance
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. march — music
  5. rule — a law
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. chest — of your body
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. ball — a great time
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mine — for digging
  19. chest — a box
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. march — the month
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. march — the month
  24. bowl — a football final

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