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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cold — an illness
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. spring — a coil
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. tear — from crying
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. spring — of water
  14. tear — from crying
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. spring — the season
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bulb — for light
  20. scale — in music
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. branch — a division

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