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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bulb — for light
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. march — the month
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. row — a line
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bulb — for light
  19. march — music
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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