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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. cold — not warm
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. capital — a city
  7. lean — to bend
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. lean — thin
  14. bass — the fish
  15. capital — money
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wake — a trail
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bass — low music
  21. plane — a tool
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wake — before a funeral

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