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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. spring — the season
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. suit — in cards
  5. field — for sport
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. rule — a law
  9. field — farmland
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bulb — for light
  14. rule — government
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. hand — in cards
  18. field — a subject
  19. suit — clothes
  20. mine — for digging
  21. suit — to fit
  22. hand — help
  23. spring — of water
  24. mine — belonging to me

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