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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. object — an aim
  4. capital — money
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. object — a thing
  7. prune — to trim
  8. spell — letters
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cold — not warm
  11. object — to protest
  12. cold — an illness
  13. capital — a city
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cell — in biology
  16. spell — a short time
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — a phone
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bulb — for light
  24. spell — magic

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