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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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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. field — farmland
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. prune — to trim
  5. spring — the season
  6. field — a subject
  7. content — the amount
  8. bulb — for light
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. hand — in cards
  11. spring — of water
  12. field — for sport
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. prune — to trim
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bulb — for light
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. fall — to drop
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. hand — help
  21. content — happy
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — the season
  24. stand — to bear

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