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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. stem — to come from
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wind — moving air
  5. game — a match
  6. march — music
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bulb — for light
  12. march — the month
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. bass — the fish
  17. tube — a container
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bass — low music
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. march — the month
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — of a plant

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