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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. pop — to visit
  4. saw — the tool
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. pop — music
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. fork — in a road
  12. scale — size or range
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. scale — in music
  16. plane — a tool
  17. pop — soda
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bulb — for light
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. bulb — for light
  24. straw — a straw man

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