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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. cell — in biology
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. tear — from crying
  6. clip — to cut
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spring — of water
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. clip — a video
  12. cell — a phone
  13. spring — a coil
  14. key — in music
  15. key — for a lock
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — for paper
  18. spring — the season
  19. key — the most important part
  20. bulb — for light
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bulb — for light

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