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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. field — farmland
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. court — of law
  5. spring — of water
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. bulb — for light
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. spring — the season
  10. cold — not warm
  11. field — a subject
  12. court — for sport
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. court — of a king
  16. spring — a coil
  17. field — for sport
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. cold — an illness
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. bulb — of a plant

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