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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 120 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: can · bowl · leaves · band · bat · game · row · fan

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. row — a line
  6. can — to be able to
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. band — a music group
  14. game — a match
  15. band — a ring
  16. game — wild animals
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. bat — the animal
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. can — a tin
  24. can — a tin

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