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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: last · bulb · rock · wake · spell · stem · kid · mine

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. spell — letters
  3. last — final
  4. rock — a stone
  5. kid — child
  6. bulb — for light
  7. last — finally
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. spell — magic
  10. spell — a short time
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — a trail
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bulb — for light
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. last — to go on
  24. mine — for digging

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