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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. bulb — for light
  4. hand — help
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. bulb — for light
  7. lean — to bend
  8. pop — soda
  9. lean — thin
  10. pop — music
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. field — a subject
  13. pop — to visit
  14. mate — a partner
  15. field — farmland
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. field — for sport
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. last — to go on
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. mate — a friend
  22. last — finally
  23. hand — in cards
  24. mate — to breed

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