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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pit — a hole
  4. bulb — for light
  5. pit — in a race
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. shower — rain
  10. spell — a short time
  11. shower — to wash
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bulb — for light
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. clip — a video
  21. spell — letters
  22. scale — in music
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. scale — size or range

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