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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. row — to paddle
  4. land — ground
  5. saw — the tool
  6. row — a line
  7. land — to come down
  8. file — a line of people
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. land — a country
  15. dip — to sink
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. file — a document
  18. bulb — for light
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. file — a tool
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. snap — to click
  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