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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. degree — from a university
  3. file — a tool
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — for light
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. spring — a coil
  11. chair — a leader
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. file — a document
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. spring — the season
  22. degree — an amount
  23. spring — of water
  24. row — to paddle

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