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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. last — final
  5. kid — child
  6. file — a line of people
  7. last — to go on
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bulb — for light
  10. kid — to tease
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. file — a document
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. field — farmland
  15. bulb — for light
  16. field — a subject
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. file — a tool
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. last — finally
  22. mine — for digging
  23. field — for sport
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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