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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 124 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. bulb — for light
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. land — a country
  5. rest — what's left
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — wild animals
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. rest — a break
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. snap — to click
  15. rest — what's left
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. cap — a lid
  19. bulb — for light
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a hat
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. bat — the animal

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