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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bulb — for light
  5. fine — all right
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. fine — high quality
  9. bulb — for light
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. band — a music group
  13. field — farmland
  14. degree — an amount
  15. saw — the tool
  16. pitch — completely
  17. degree — temperature
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. degree — from a university
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. field — a subject
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. field — for sport
  24. pitch — a sports field

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