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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. land — ground
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. cell — a phone
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. clip — for paper
  9. saw — the tool
  10. spell — letters
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. land — to come down
  14. spell — a short time
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — in golf
  17. land — a country
  18. saw — the tool
  19. spell — magic
  20. bulb — for light
  21. clip — a video
  22. dip — to sink
  23. clip — to cut
  24. swing — music

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