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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. spring — a coil
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wound — an injury
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. bulb — for light
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spring — of water
  17. shower — rain
  18. scale — in music
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. scale — size or range
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. shower — to wash
  24. spring — the season

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