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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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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: mine · cell · plane · kick · roll · dip · bowl · cold

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. roll — a cake
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. mine — for digging
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. plane — a tool
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — to sink
  17. cell — a phone
  18. roll — a list
  19. cell — in biology
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. kick — in football
  24. bowl — a football final

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