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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. fine — high quality
  4. bulb — for light
  5. land — to come down
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. spring — a coil
  9. land — ground
  10. spring — of water
  11. fine — all right
  12. plane — a tool
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. spring — the season
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. land — a country
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. bat — the animal

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