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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've got to change the light ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. file — a tool
  3. stem — to come from
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. ground — the earth
  8. cell — a phone
  9. capital — a city
  10. ground — a position
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a document
  13. perch — the fish
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. capital — money
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. bulb — for light
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. stem — 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