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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. plane — a tool
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. staff — employees
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. staff — a stick
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. staff — employees
  18. cold — not warm
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. bear — the animal
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. shower — rain
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bear — the animal

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