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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. ground — a position
  4. cell — in biology
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. plane — a tool
  7. content — happy
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. ground — crushed
  10. pop — soda
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wake — a trail
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. ground — the earth
  16. cell — a phone
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pop — to visit
  19. bulb — for light
  20. row — a line
  21. pop — music
  22. bulb — for light
  23. content — the amount
  24. row — a quarrel

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