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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cue — a hint
  3. degree — from a university
  4. game — a match
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. degree — an amount
  10. prune — to trim
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cue — for pool
  13. game — wild animals
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a document
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cue — a signal
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. bulb — for light
  21. degree — temperature
  22. file — a line of people
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. bulb — 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