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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: row · pitcher · face · bowl · cold · bore · fork · lie

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. bowl — a dish
  2. cold — not warm
  3. row — to paddle
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. face — to confront
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bore — to tire
  10. fork — in a road
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. face — part of the head
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. lie — to recline
  19. bore — to drill
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. row — a line
  22. face — to point toward
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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