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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bass — the fish
  4. rush — hurry
  5. tear — to rip
  6. cold — an illness
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — humankind
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. bass — low music
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. race — the arms race
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. ball — a dance
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. cold — not warm
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. date — the fruit
  24. tear — from crying

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