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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. degree — from a university
  6. last — final
  7. snap — to click
  8. season — in sport
  9. bulb — for light
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. last — finally
  12. last — to go on
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. game — wild animals
  15. chip — to eat
  16. degree — temperature
  17. game — a match
  18. chip — for betting
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. degree — an amount
  22. band — a ring
  23. bulb — for light
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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