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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 120 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. bulb — for light
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. mark — a trace
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. chest — a box
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. hand — help
  12. mark — a grade
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. rash — a series
  15. chest — of your body
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bulb — for light
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hand — in cards
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. leaves — to go away

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