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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. pit — in a race
  5. degree — temperature
  6. shower — rain
  7. pit — a hole
  8. row — a line
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. degree — an amount
  13. face — to point toward
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. race — a contest
  16. bulb — for light
  17. race — the arms race
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to confront
  22. row — to paddle
  23. race — humankind
  24. bulb — for light

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