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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cue — for pool
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bulb — for light
  9. net — for catching
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cue — a hint
  15. root — the cause
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cue — a signal
  18. net — after costs
  19. wake — a trail
  20. root — of a plant
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. root — of a word
  24. net — in sport

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