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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. pit — a hole
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bulb — for light
  8. net — for catching
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. pit — in a race
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. hand — help
  15. rule — a law
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. net — after costs
  18. game — a match
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. rule — government
  22. net — in sport
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — a stem cell

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