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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. suit — to fit
  3. degree — an amount
  4. last — finally
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. hand — help
  7. band — a music group
  8. suit — in cards
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. last — to go on
  13. bulb — for light
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. band — a ring
  17. wind — moving air
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. degree — temperature
  20. last — final
  21. suit — clothes
  22. degree — from a university
  23. snap — to click
  24. hand — part of the body

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