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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. snap — to click
  3. swing — to play on
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. degree — an amount
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. rash — hasty
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. swing — in golf
  16. bulb — for light
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. degree — temperature
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. swing — music
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. rash — a series

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