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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. band — a music group
  4. sharp — clever
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. bulb — for light
  7. mark — a grade
  8. shower — rain
  9. present — a gift
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. shower — to wash
  12. land — ground
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bulb — for light
  16. mark — a trace
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. cold — not warm
  20. land — to come down
  21. present — the time now
  22. band — a ring
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. land — a country

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