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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: roll · present · pitcher · hand · bat · toast · mine · bulb

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  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. hand — help
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bulb — for light
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. present — there
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bat — the animal
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. roll — a cake
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. present — a gift
  17. present — the time now
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. toast — bread
  20. bulb — for light
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. hand — in cards
  23. roll — a list
  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