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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. object — a thing
  3. date — the fruit
  4. spring — a coil
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. kid — to tease
  9. file — a tool
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. object — to protest
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. file — a document
  14. kid — child
  15. object — an aim
  16. file — a line of people
  17. game — wild animals
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. game — a match
  20. spring — the season
  21. bulb — for light
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. fan — to cool the air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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