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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.

Make a worksheet

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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. rest — a break
  4. field — a subject
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. field — farmland
  7. bark — to shout
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. rest — what's left
  12. field — for sport
  13. rest — what's left
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bulb — for light

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