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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. shower — to wash
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. wind — moving air
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. hand — help
  7. wind — moving air
  8. present — a gift
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. game — wild animals
  11. swing — music
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. swing — to play on
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bulb — for light
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. present — there
  19. shower — rain
  20. hand — in cards
  21. game — a match
  22. present — the time now
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bulb — for light

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