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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. field — farmland
  3. hand — help
  4. bulb — for light
  5. field — a subject
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. field — for sport
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wax — to grow
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bulb — for light
  24. scale — in music

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