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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. pop — soda
  6. wind — moving air
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pop — music
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. present — there
  19. pop — to visit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. present — the time now
  22. date — the fruit
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. present — a gift

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