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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. press — a publisher
  3. craft — boats
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. game — wild animals
  8. face — part of the head
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. game — a match
  11. press — to push
  12. bore — to tire
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bulb — for light
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bore — to drill
  20. perch — the fish
  21. press — newspapers
  22. craft — a skill
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — to confront

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