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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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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: fall · snap · game · bowl · leaves · ground · arm · cell

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cell — a phone
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. game — a match
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. fall — to drop
  11. ground — a position
  12. fall — the season
  13. cell — in biology
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ground — crushed
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. snap — to click
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. game — wild animals
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. bowl — to roll

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