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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. field — a subject
  3. spring — of water
  4. field — farmland
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rule — government
  10. snap — to click
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bulb — for light
  13. spring — the season
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. bulb — for light
  16. pitch — completely
  17. spring — a coil
  18. scale — in music
  19. field — for sport
  20. rule — a law
  21. net — in sport
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. net — after costs
  24. net — for catching

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