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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. lean — thin
  3. fine — high quality
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bulb — for light
  6. hand — in cards
  7. stem — to come from
  8. hand — help
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lean — to bend
  11. march — the month
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. march — music
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bulb — for light
  16. fine — all right
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. march — the month
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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