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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. 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. bulb — of a plant
  2. bulb — for light
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. present — there
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. hand — help
  11. content — the amount
  12. cell — a phone
  13. present — a gift
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. game — wild animals
  17. present — the time now
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. content — happy
  20. game — a match
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bulb — for light
  24. 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