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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bound — obliged
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bound — tied together
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a line of people
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bound — certain
  10. cap — a hat
  11. file — a tool
  12. game — a match
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bass — the fish
  15. cap — a lid
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bass — low music
  20. bulb — for light
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bass — the instrument

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