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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. spell — a short time
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. prune — to trim
  5. spell — magic
  6. degree — temperature
  7. perch — the fish
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. bulb — for light
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — not warm
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. degree — from a university
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. degree — an amount
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. spell — letters

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