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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — for light
  4. tear — from crying
  5. land — to come down
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. land — a country
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. file — a line of people
  10. key — the most important part
  11. key — in music
  12. file — a tool
  13. shower — rain
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tear — to rip
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cell — in biology
  19. tear — from crying
  20. land — ground
  21. file — a document
  22. key — for a lock
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — a phone

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