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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. mate — a partner
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bulb — for light
  7. last — final
  8. chest — a box
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. scale — in music
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. scale — size or range
  14. last — to go on
  15. mate — a friend
  16. mate — to breed
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. fork — in a road
  19. last — finally
  20. chest — of your body
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. sharp — clever
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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