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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. face — to point toward
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. spring — a coil
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. face — to confront
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. spring — the season
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. face — part of the head
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. spring — of water
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. bulb — for light
  24. pitcher — a jug

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