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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: prune · bass · mark · bulb · pass · tear · game · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bulb — for light
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. tear — from crying
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. pass — a permit
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bass — low music
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bass — the fish
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. spell — magic
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. game — a match
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. prune — to trim
  22. mark — a grade
  23. bulb — for light
  24. mark — a trace

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