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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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468
Word bank
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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cell — in biology
  4. content — happy
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cell — a phone
  7. file — a document
  8. wind — moving air
  9. present — there
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bulb — for light
  16. content — the amount
  17. wind — moving air
  18. file — a line of people
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — the earth
  21. present — a gift
  22. present — the time now
  23. file — a tool
  24. lash — to lash out

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