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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: game · cabinet · march · row · mark · shower · dip · bowl

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. game — wild animals
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. row — to paddle
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. game — a match
  8. march — the month
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. mark — a trace
  11. dip — to sink
  12. row — a line
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. march — the month
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. shower — rain
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. shower — to wash
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. march — music
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. mark — a grade

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