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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. spring — of water
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bass — the fish
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. bulb — for light
  8. root — of a plant
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. game — a match
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. spring — the season
  15. fall — the season
  16. bulb — for light
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. mine — for digging
  20. root — the cause
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — wild animals
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. root — of a word

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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