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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bulb · cold · rock · spring · cue · date

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. cue — a hint
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. bulb — for light
  10. rock — music
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rock — a stone
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. spring — a coil
  15. spring — of water
  16. spring — the season
  17. bulb — for light
  18. cue — for pool

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