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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bat — the animal
  6. lean — thin
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bass — low music
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bulb — for light
  12. wind — moving air
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bass — the fish
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. lean — to bend
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. bat — in an idiom

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