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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: season · bowl · wind · pitcher · staff · file · club · band

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. season — of the year
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. club — for golf
  6. staff — a stick
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. season — in sport
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. band — a ring
  12. club — a group
  13. file — a tool
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. staff — employees
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wind — moving air
  18. band — a music group
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. staff — employees
  21. file — a document
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. file — a line of people
  24. club — for dancing

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