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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 116 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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. net — for catching
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cap — of ice
  6. march — the month
  7. net — after costs
  8. bulb — for light
  9. mine — for digging
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — happy
  12. spring — the season
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. march — music
  15. cap — a hat
  16. spring — a coil
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. net — in sport
  19. march — the month
  20. ball — a dance
  21. ball — a great time
  22. spring — of water
  23. bulb — for light
  24. cap — a lid

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