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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cold — not warm
  3. net — in sport
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. chair — a leader
  11. root — of a word
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. root — the cause
  15. net — after costs
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. root — of a plant
  19. prune — to trim
  20. net — for catching
  21. bulb — for light
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wake — a trail

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