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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. row — a line
  4. land — a country
  5. bulb — for light
  6. net — after costs
  7. sharp — clever
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bat — the animal
  10. lean — thin
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. lean — to bend
  15. land — to come down
  16. row — to paddle
  17. land — ground
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. net — in sport
  20. bulb — for light
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. net — for catching
  24. bat — for baseball

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