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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 116 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: hand · bulb · ball · mine · fall · track · row · pop

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. mine — for digging
  4. pop — to visit
  5. row — a line
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. fall — the season
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pop — soda
  11. fall — to drop
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bulb — for light
  15. ball — a dance
  16. track — a song
  17. bulb — for light
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. track — a path
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. track — to keep track
  22. pop — music
  23. hand — help
  24. row — to paddle

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