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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — for light
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. rash — hasty
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. cold — not warm
  13. swing — to play on
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. swing — in golf
  17. stock — shares
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. rash — a series
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chest — of your body
  24. swing — 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