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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 120 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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cap — a hat
  3. squash — to crush
  4. land — to come down
  5. cap — a lid
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. land — ground
  11. cap — of ice
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. squash — the sport
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. spring — the season
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. bulb — for light
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. land — a country
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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