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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. bulb — for light
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bound — obliged
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bulb — for light
  9. pit — in a race
  10. bound — tied together
  11. spell — magic
  12. pit — a hole
  13. file — a document
  14. bass — low music
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. spell — letters
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. shower — rain
  21. bass — the fish
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. file — a tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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