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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. content — happy
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. cap — a hat
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rush — hurry
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. bulb — for light
  18. key — in music
  19. bulb — for light
  20. kid — child
  21. key — for a lock
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. bowl — a football final

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