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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: kick · file · plane · club · bowl · cold · hide · pop

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — music
  6. file — a tool
  7. plane — a tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. club — a group
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. file — a line of people
  12. club — for dancing
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. club — for golf
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pop — to visit
  22. kick — in football
  23. file — a document
  24. cold — not warm

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