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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bulb — for light
  3. wound — an injury
  4. saw — the tool
  5. rule — government
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. land — to come down
  8. bulb — for light
  9. wound — an injury
  10. land — ground
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. scale — size or range
  14. rule — a law
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. row — a line
  18. land — a country
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — to trim
  21. row — to paddle
  22. scale — in music
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. rule — to rule out

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