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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spell — magic
  4. current — electric
  5. spell — letters
  6. bulb — for light
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. current — happening now
  13. chip — for betting
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. current — of water
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — to eat

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