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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spell — letters
  4. bulb — for light
  5. spell — magic
  6. file — a document
  7. capital — money
  8. present — there
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. present — the time now
  11. cap — a lid
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. file — a tool
  14. capital — a city
  15. bulb — for light
  16. present — a gift
  17. pitch — completely
  18. file — a line of people
  19. cold — not warm
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cap — a hat

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