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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. spell — letters
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wound — an injury
  9. snap — to click
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. saw — the tool
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. saw — the tool
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. bulb — for light
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. spell — magic
  22. game — wild animals
  23. spell — a short time
  24. pass — a permit

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