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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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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bulb — for light
  3. lean — thin
  4. bulb — for light
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — an amount
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. lean — to bend
  13. mine — for digging
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. spring — a coil
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — belonging to me

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