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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bowl · cold · board · track · calf · bass · straw · hand

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bass — low music
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. bass — the fish
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hand — in cards
  16. board — a committee
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. hand — help
  19. board — to get on
  20. track — a path
  21. track — a song
  22. cold — an illness
  23. track — to keep track
  24. calf — a young animal

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