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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. degree — an amount
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. bulb — for light
  6. land — to come down
  7. degree — temperature
  8. race — humankind
  9. staff — employees
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. staff — a stick
  14. spring — the season
  15. fall — to drop
  16. degree — from a university
  17. staff — employees
  18. fall — to drop
  19. spring — of water
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fall — the season
  24. bulb — for light

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