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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. march — the month
  4. spell — letters
  5. march — music
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. bulb — for light
  10. march — the month
  11. spring — of water
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spring — the season
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. content — happy
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — army training
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. drill — the tool
  23. spell — magic
  24. content — the amount

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