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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  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. swing — in golf
  3. cap — of ice
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bulb — for light
  7. fall — to drop
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. cap — a hat
  10. cap — a lid
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. bulb — for light
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. swing — music
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stand — to bear
  19. wind — moving air
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. swing — to play on
  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