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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. degree — temperature
  3. net — for catching
  4. bulb — for light
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. degree — from a university
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bulb — for light
  10. craft — a skill
  11. rock — a stone
  12. net — after costs
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. craft — boats
  17. degree — an amount
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. net — in sport
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. rock — music
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. chest — a box

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