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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 124 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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. present — there
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. chair — a leader
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. field — farmland
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. present — the time now
  15. bass — low music
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bass — the fish
  19. present — a gift
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. field — for sport
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. field — a subject
  24. straw — a straw man

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