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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. drill — a practice
  3. spring — a coil
  4. content — happy
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cap — a hat
  8. face — to confront
  9. content — the amount
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. drill — army training
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cap — a lid
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. spring — of water
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. roll — a cake
  19. spring — the season
  20. drill — the tool
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. shower — rain
  23. bulb — for light
  24. roll — a list

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