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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. spring — the season
  3. squash — the sport
  4. wound — an injury
  5. land — a country
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. ground — the earth
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. ground — crushed
  10. land — to come down
  11. spring — of water
  12. chest — of your body
  13. ground — a position
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. chest — of your body
  16. squash — to crush
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bulb — for light
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — a series
  23. land — ground
  24. chest — a box

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