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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. pop — music
  5. field — farmland
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pop — to visit
  8. field — a subject
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. bulb — for light
  11. ball — a great time
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. field — for sport
  19. fine — all right
  20. pop — soda
  21. bulb — for light
  22. ball — a dance
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bore — gave birth

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