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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cold — not warm
  5. track — to keep track
  6. chest — a box
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. bulb — for light
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wake — a trail
  14. spring — of water
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. track — a path
  17. track — a song
  18. prune — to trim
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — the season
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. prune — to trim

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