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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. march — the month
  4. tear — from crying
  5. charge — in control
  6. tear — from crying
  7. charge — electricity
  8. spell — letters
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. content — the amount
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. spell — magic
  14. bulb — for light
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. spell — a short time
  17. shower — to wash
  18. fork — in a road
  19. content — happy
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. tear — to rip
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. charge — a price

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