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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. saw — the tool
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. game — wild animals
  6. file — a tool
  7. bulb — for light
  8. file — a document
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. saw — the tool
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. mine — for digging
  15. row — a line
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. rest — a break
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. game — a match
  20. rest — what's left
  21. stand — to bear
  22. file — a line of people
  23. rest — what's left
  24. row — to paddle

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