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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: rest · bulb · hand · fan · sharp · spring · game · nail

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. sharp — clever
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. spring — the season
  8. hand — help
  9. spring — a coil
  10. rest — a break
  11. game — a match
  12. spring — of water
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — what's left
  16. hand — in cards
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bulb — for light
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bulb — for light
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. game — wild animals

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