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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. spring — of water
  3. bulb — for light
  4. swing — music
  5. land — a country
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. bound — certain
  8. land — ground
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bulb — for light
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. spring — the season
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. swing — to play on
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. lie — to recline
  24. swing — in golf

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