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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. foot — a measure
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. spring — a coil
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bulb — for light
  7. scale — in music
  8. scale — size or range
  9. spring — of water
  10. dip — to sink
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. race — the arms race
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. spring — the season
  15. bulb — for light
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wake — a trail
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. race — a contest
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. race — humankind

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