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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. present — there
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. bulb — for light
  10. hand — help
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. capital — a city
  13. present — a gift
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. capital — money
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. present — the time now
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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