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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've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitch — completely
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. bulb — for light
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. cold — an illness
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. spring — of water
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. stem — to come from

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