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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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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 · stand · arm · rule · squash · mine · season · wound

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. season — of the year
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. squash — to crush
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. squash — the sport
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. stand — to bear
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. season — in sport
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. rule — a law
  19. rule — government
  20. mine — for digging
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. stand — on your feet

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