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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. object — a thing
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bulb — for light
  8. spell — a short time
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. press — to push
  11. press — a publisher
  12. object — an aim
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bulb — for light
  15. spell — letters
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. press — newspapers
  18. object — to protest
  19. cold — not warm
  20. spell — magic
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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