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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: cabinet · ball · bowl · row · march · root · snap · bat

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. row — a line
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. snap — to click
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. ball — a dance
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. march — the month
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. root — of a plant
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. root — of a word
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. march — the month
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. root — the cause
  19. row — to paddle
  20. ball — a great time
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. march — music

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