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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. field — for sport
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. field — farmland
  9. spell — magic
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — certain
  13. spell — letters
  14. bound — obliged
  15. field — a subject
  16. deal — to handle
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. spell — a short time
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. clip — a video

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