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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. spring — a coil
  3. net — after costs
  4. wound — an injury
  5. capital — a city
  6. spring — the season
  7. club — a group
  8. bulb — for light
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. face — to point toward
  13. face — to confront
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — for catching
  16. face — part of the head
  17. capital — money
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. spring — of water
  20. club — for dancing
  21. club — for golf
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. scale — in music

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