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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 116 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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. capital — a city
  10. prune — to trim
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. capital — money
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bulb — for light
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. ground — the earth
  22. plane — a tool
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. ground — a position

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