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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bulb — for light
  4. last — finally
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. spell — a short time
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. last — to go on
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. last — final
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spell — magic
  16. game — a match
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bulb — for light
  24. wind — moving air

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