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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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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: spring · lie · stock · game · cold · march · bulb · toast

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. stock — shares
  3. march — the month
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bulb — for light
  10. cold — an illness
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cold — not warm
  14. march — the month
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. toast — bread
  19. game — a match
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. spring — the season
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. march — music

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