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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. court — for sport
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. branch — a division
  6. dip — to sink
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. capital — a city
  9. court — of law
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. bat — the animal
  12. club — for dancing
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. bulb — for light
  16. club — a group
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. club — for golf
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. court — of a king
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. capital — money

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