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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 120 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. race — a contest
  3. bulb — for light
  4. firm — a company
  5. clip — a video
  6. race — humankind
  7. firm — decided
  8. race — the arms race
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wound — an injury
  14. firm — steady
  15. stem — to come from
  16. spring — the season
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. clip — for paper
  21. kid — child
  22. bulb — for light
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stem — a stem cell

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