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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bulb — for light
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bulb — for light
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. shower — to wash
  9. tear — from crying
  10. game — a match
  11. shower — rain
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spring — the season
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. tear — to rip
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. pitch — completely
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bulb — of a plant

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