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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 124 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. net — after costs
  7. pass — a permit
  8. pit — in a race
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. row — to paddle
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. bulb — for light
  14. net — in sport
  15. row — a line
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. rock — a stone
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. net — for catching
  23. bulb — for light
  24. pass — to succeed

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