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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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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 · net · bat · land · kid · firm · fan · chest

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. kid — child
  3. bulb — for light
  4. firm — steady
  5. chest — a box
  6. net — after costs
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. bulb — for light
  10. firm — decided
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bat — the animal
  16. net — for catching
  17. land — a country
  18. net — in sport
  19. land — ground
  20. land — to come down
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. fan — a supporter

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