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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. club — for dancing
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — of water
  7. face — to point toward
  8. cell — a phone
  9. spring — the season
  10. branch — a division
  11. bulb — for light
  12. chest — of your body
  13. club — a group
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. face — to confront
  16. fork — in a road
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. face — part of the head
  19. cell — in biology
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. club — for golf
  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