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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rash — hasty
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. rash — a series
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — in cards
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. vault — a safe
  10. bear — the animal
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. bat — the animal
  13. clip — for paper
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. clip — to cut
  17. capital — money
  18. clip — a video
  19. capital — a city
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. hand — help
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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