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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 120 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. current — of water
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. season — in sport
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. current — happening now
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — in biology
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. wax — to grow
  19. current — electric
  20. bulb — for light
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. season — of the year
  24. wax — in the ear

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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