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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 116 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: bowl · bore · perch · file · capital · kid · saw · pop

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. saw — the tool
  3. capital — money
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — child
  6. file — a line of people
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. kid — to tease
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — music
  12. perch — the fish
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. file — a tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. saw — the tool
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — to tire
  23. pop — to visit
  24. file — a document

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