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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — to shout
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. spell — letters
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cold — an illness
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. spell — magic
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bulb — for light
  19. perch — the fish
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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