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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. mine — for digging
  4. cell — in biology
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cell — a phone
  7. race — a contest
  8. march — the month
  9. prune — to trim
  10. race — the arms race
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. bulb — for light
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. kid — child
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. march — the month
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bulb — for light
  21. prune — to trim
  22. march — music
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. race — humankind

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