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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 120 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. key — for a lock
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bulb — for light
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bass — low music
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. field — a subject
  9. snap — to click
  10. key — in music
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rash — a series
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bulb — for light
  16. rash — hasty
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. field — farmland
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. field — for sport
  22. key — the most important part
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the sport

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