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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rest — a break
  4. present — the time now
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. rest — what's left
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. squash — to crush
  12. rest — what's left
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. present — a gift
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. branch — a division
  17. present — there
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — the sport
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bulb — for light

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