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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. bulb — for light
  5. land — ground
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bulb — for light
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — a series
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. land — a country
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. mine — for digging
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. tear — from crying
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stock — shares
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. kid — child
  22. land — to come down
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. stock — goods

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