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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bulb — for light
  4. can — a tin
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. content — happy
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. spring — of water
  9. content — the amount
  10. tube — the underground
  11. scale — size or range
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. scale — in music
  14. spring — a coil
  15. can — a tin
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bulb — for light
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. tube — a container
  24. can — to be able to

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