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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. kid — to tease
  5. game — a match
  6. bulb — for light
  7. rash — a series
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. dip — to sink
  11. present — the time now
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. mine — for digging
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. rash — hasty
  21. bulb — for light
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. present — a gift
  24. kid — child

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