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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. cold — not warm
  6. branch — a division
  7. tear — to rip
  8. object — to protest
  9. object — a thing
  10. court — of a king
  11. court — for sport
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. bulb — for light
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bulb — for light
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pitch — completely
  23. court — of law
  24. object — an aim

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