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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. prune — to trim
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. prune — to trim
  5. swing — to play on
  6. drill — army training
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. swing — music
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. scale — in music
  11. deal — to handle
  12. march — music
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bulb — for light
  16. march — the month
  17. drill — the tool
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. scale — size or range
  20. march — the month
  21. swing — in golf
  22. drill — a practice
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. dip — to sink

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