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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. field — farmland
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. field — for sport
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bulb — for light
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. wind — moving air
  11. net — for catching
  12. capital — money
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. stand — to bear
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — a city
  18. bass — low music
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. field — a subject
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — a series
  24. bass — the instrument

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