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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. capital — a city
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — part of the head
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bulb — for light
  8. file — a document
  9. degree — an amount
  10. face — to confront
  11. track — a song
  12. degree — temperature
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. track — a path
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. track — to keep track
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — hurry
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a tool
  24. degree — from a university

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