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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  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. pop — soda
  2. last — final
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. mine — for digging
  7. degree — from a university
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pop — to visit
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bulb — for light
  12. perch — the fish
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. last — to go on
  15. kid — to tease
  16. land — a country
  17. degree — an amount
  18. land — to come down
  19. last — finally
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. kid — child
  22. land — ground
  23. pop — music
  24. mine — belonging to me

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