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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 · rash · tear · racket · cell · cold

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. tear — to rip
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. bulb — for light
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. rash — a series
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bulb — for light
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — an illness
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cell — in biology

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