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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: cold · toast · lean · hand · swing · bulb · bore · club

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. bore — to drill
  3. club — for dancing
  4. lean — to bend
  5. bulb — for light
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. bore — to tire
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. lean — thin
  12. toast — bread
  13. swing — music
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. cold — not warm
  16. swing — in golf
  17. bulb — for light
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. club — for golf
  21. club — a group
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bore — gave birth

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