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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. game — a match
  3. wind — moving air
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. game — wild animals
  9. degree — an amount
  10. land — a country
  11. squash — the sport
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. wind — moving air
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. squash — to crush
  16. degree — from a university
  17. land — to come down
  18. pass — a permit
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bulb — for light
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bulb — for light

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