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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. file — a document
  2. bulb — for light
  3. scale — size or range
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. stem — to come from
  10. scale — in music
  11. ball — a great time
  12. degree — an amount
  13. capital — a city
  14. bulb — for light
  15. degree — temperature
  16. file — a tool
  17. ball — a dance
  18. degree — from a university
  19. file — a line of people
  20. clip — for paper
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. capital — money
  24. bulb — of a plant

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