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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. track — to keep track
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. track — a song
  6. cold — not warm
  7. spring — the season
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. spring — a coil
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. scale — size or range
  12. perch — the fish
  13. bulb — for light
  14. staff — employees
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. staff — a stick
  17. bulb — for light
  18. scale — in music
  19. spring — of water
  20. game — a match
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. track — a path
  23. game — wild animals
  24. staff — employees

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