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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 · rush · rash · sharp · field · foot · game · bass

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bass — low music
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. field — farmland
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. game — a match
  9. bulb — for light
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bulb — for light
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. rash — a series
  17. sharp — clever
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. rash — hasty
  21. field — for sport
  22. bass — the fish
  23. field — a subject
  24. rash — on the skin

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