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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. cold — not warm
  3. foot — a measure
  4. row — to paddle
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. row — a line
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. branch — a division
  23. bulb — for light
  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