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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cold — not warm
  3. land — ground
  4. bulb — for light
  5. land — to come down
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. pitch — completely
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. cold — an illness
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cell — in biology
  18. land — a country
  19. cell — a phone
  20. stand — to bear
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pitch — a sports field

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