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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. current — of water
  5. bulb — for light
  6. current — electric
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. lie — to recline
  9. stock — shares
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. spring — the season
  13. current — happening now
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. stock — goods
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bulb — for light
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. spring — of water

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