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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: row · bowl · foot · cell · rash · lie · bat · fan

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. rash — hasty
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. rash — a series
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. foot — a measure
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. lie — to recline
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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