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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bulb — for light
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. shower — to wash
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. current — happening now
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pitch — completely
  13. bass — the fish
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. game — a match
  18. tear — from crying
  19. current — electric
  20. current — of water
  21. bass — low music
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bulb — for light
  24. shower — rain

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