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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bat — the animal
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. pop — to visit
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. pop — soda
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pop — music
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. plane — a tool
  18. rest — what's left
  19. mine — for digging
  20. rest — a break
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bulb — for light

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