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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. present — there
  3. spring — a coil
  4. present — the time now
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. net — in sport
  7. bulb — for light
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. land — to come down
  10. shower — rain
  11. kid — child
  12. land — ground
  13. band — a ring
  14. spring — of water
  15. shower — to wash
  16. kid — to tease
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. present — a gift
  19. bulb — for light
  20. land — a country
  21. spring — the season
  22. net — for catching
  23. net — after costs
  24. bulb — of a plant

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