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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. chest — of your body
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. spring — the season
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. spell — magic
  11. spell — a short time
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. board — a committee
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bulb — for light
  16. spell — letters
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. board — to get on
  20. land — a country
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. spring — of water
  23. chest — a box
  24. spring — a coil

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