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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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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. spell — letters
  4. bulb — for light
  5. mine — for digging
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — thin
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. chip — to eat
  10. spell — magic
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. stock — goods
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. spell — a short time
  15. stock — shares
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. chip — for betting
  20. tube — a container
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bulb — for light
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — to come from

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