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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. cold — not warm
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bulb — for light
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. content — happy
  11. plane — a tool
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. ground — a position
  14. file — a line of people
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. file — a document
  17. bulb — for light
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. content — the amount
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. ground — the earth
  24. file — a tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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