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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rash — hasty
  5. bulb — for light
  6. file — a line of people
  7. can — to be able to
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. file — a document
  11. present — a gift
  12. bat — the animal
  13. present — the time now
  14. can — a tin
  15. file — a tool
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. game — a match
  21. can — a tin
  22. rash — a series
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. game — wild animals

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