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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: cold · game · bulb · cap · scale · stand · root · bear

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stand — to bear
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. bulb — for light
  6. root — of a plant
  7. game — a match
  8. bear — the animal
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bulb — for light
  15. root — of a word
  16. bear — the animal
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cap — of ice
  21. scale — in music
  22. root — the cause
  23. scale — size or range
  24. stand — on your feet

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