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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 116 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bulb · straw · pitcher · last · hand · spell · rest · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. rest — what's left
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — magic
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. hand — help
  10. rest — what's left
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. rest — a break
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — finally
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. spell — a short time
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. last — final
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. mine — an explosive

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