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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pop — to visit
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bank — for money
  8. bulb — for light
  9. track — a song
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pop — music
  12. track — a path
  13. last — to go on
  14. mine — for digging
  15. pop — soda
  16. clip — a video
  17. bank — of a river
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bank — for money
  20. last — final
  21. last — finally
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bat — in an idiom

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