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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. game — a match
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. fork — in a road
  12. band — a music group
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bulb — for light
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. band — a ring
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. file — a document
  24. date — the fruit

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