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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. bulb — for light
  3. game — wild animals
  4. degree — an amount
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. game — a match
  8. bulb — for light
  9. present — there
  10. march — the month
  11. degree — from a university
  12. march — music
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. march — the month
  15. season — of the year
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. degree — temperature
  19. face — part of the head
  20. present — a gift
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. season — in sport
  23. face — to confront
  24. face — to point toward

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