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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bound — certain
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. bound — tied together
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. field — for sport
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bulb — for light
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. bound — obliged
  13. field — farmland
  14. cold — not warm
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rash — a series
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. field — a subject
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. rash — hasty

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