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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. land — ground
  4. bulb — for light
  5. clip — to cut
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. land — to come down
  8. game — a match
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. wake — a trail
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. saw — the tool
  16. land — a country
  17. clip — a video
  18. content — the amount
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. content — happy
  21. bulb — for light
  22. saw — the tool
  23. game — wild animals
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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