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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. firm — decided
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. capital — money
  5. net — for catching
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bulb — for light
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bulb — for light
  11. wound — an injury
  12. net — in sport
  13. firm — steady
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. wound — an injury
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. net — after costs
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. capital — a city
  24. firm — a company

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