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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. current — of water
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. cold — an illness
  7. current — electric
  8. bulb — for light
  9. current — happening now
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. content — happy
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. cold — not warm
  20. content — the amount
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. scale — in music
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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