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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. mug — a face
  2. bass — the fish
  3. cold — an illness
  4. ground — the earth
  5. track — a song
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bulb — for light
  10. track — to keep track
  11. bass — low music
  12. cap — of ice
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. bulb — for light
  15. track — a path
  16. mug — a cup
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — crushed
  21. cap — a lid
  22. mug — to rob
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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