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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 116 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. field — farmland
  7. kid — child
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. bulb — for light
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. field — for sport
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spring — of water
  15. tube — a container
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. tear — to rip
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. field — a subject
  21. tube — the underground
  22. kid — to tease
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bulb — for light

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