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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. net — in sport
  3. bank — of a river
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. cold — not warm
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. capital — money
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. net — after costs
  16. cold — an illness
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. bank — for money
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. net — for catching
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bank — for money
  24. capital — a city

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