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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. staff — employees
  3. hand — help
  4. shower — to wash
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pass — a permit
  8. face — to confront
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. staff — a stick
  16. staff — employees
  17. shower — rain
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. face — part of the head
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. face — to point toward
  23. bulb — for light
  24. wound — an injury

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