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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. spell — magic
  3. present — the time now
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. present — there
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. spell — letters
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. track — a path
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. track — a song
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spell — a short time
  18. track — to keep track
  19. present — a gift
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. bulb — for light
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. cold — an illness

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