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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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Word bank
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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: wind · coach · tear · bulb · game · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. game — wild animals
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. game — a match
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bulb — for light
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bulb — for light
  17. wind — moving air
  18. coach — pulled by horses

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