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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. tear — from crying
  4. hand — help
  5. bulb — for light
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. net — in sport
  10. bulb — for light
  11. net — after costs
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tear — to rip
  14. sharp — clever
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mine — for digging
  20. net — for catching
  21. hand — in cards
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. tear — from crying

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