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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. net — for catching
  6. season — in sport
  7. tube — a container
  8. net — in sport
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bulb — for light
  11. wound — an injury
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bulb — for light
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cell — a phone
  17. season — of the year
  18. net — after costs
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cell — in biology
  23. degree — temperature
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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