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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cell — in biology
  4. rule — a law
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. track — a path
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. kid — child
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. rule — government
  11. kid — to tease
  12. tube — the underground
  13. cold — not warm
  14. track — a song
  15. track — to keep track
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. tube — a container

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