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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — an illness
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bear — the animal
  5. swing — music
  6. game — wild animals
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. swing — in golf
  10. bulb — for light
  11. swing — to play on
  12. plane — a tool
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. bear — the animal
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. can — to be able to
  20. game — a match
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. branch — a division
  23. can — a tin
  24. bulb — of a plant

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