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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. file — a tool
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. firm — steady
  5. charge — electricity
  6. band — a music group
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cold — an illness
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bulb — for light
  12. band — a ring
  13. charge — in control
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. charge — a price
  17. file — a document
  18. firm — a company
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. firm — decided
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bass — low music

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