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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. foot — a measure
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bulb — for light
  6. pitch — completely
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. spring — a coil
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. spring — of water
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. spring — the season
  18. file — a tool
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. file — a line of people
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. wound — an injury
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. file — a document

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