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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 116 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: rest · clip · wave · cold · season · bulb · patient · content

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — for light
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. content — happy
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. rest — what's left
  13. clip — for paper
  14. season — in sport
  15. clip — a video
  16. season — of the year
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. content — the amount
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cold — an illness
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. rest — a break

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