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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bulb — for light
  4. cap — a lid
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. swing — to play on
  7. rock — a stone
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wound — an injury
  11. swing — in golf
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wind — moving air
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. swing — music
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. file — a document
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. shower — rain
  20. rock — music
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. cap — a hat
  23. file — a tool
  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