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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: bowl · mate · scale · cell · land · spring · board · kid

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. 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. spring — the season
  2. land — to come down
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. spring — of water
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. land — ground
  8. mate — to breed
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. land — a country
  12. board — a committee
  13. board — to get on
  14. scale — size or range
  15. mate — a friend
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. kid — to tease
  20. spring — a coil
  21. scale — in music
  22. mate — a partner
  23. cell — a phone
  24. 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