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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 120 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: bat · wound · squash · land · bulb · mate · hand · cap

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. land — to come down
  3. cap — of ice
  4. mate — a friend
  5. land — ground
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bulb — for light
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mate — a partner
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. squash — the sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. land — a country
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cap — a lid
  19. squash — to crush
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. hand — help
  22. cap — a hat
  23. mate — to breed
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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