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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 · march · pop · swing · toast · tear · root · wind

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. toast — bread
  3. bulb — for light
  4. swing — in golf
  5. pop — music
  6. root — the cause
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. march — the month
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. bulb — for light
  11. wind — moving air
  12. root — of a word
  13. swing — music
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. tear — to rip
  17. pop — soda
  18. root — of a plant
  19. tear — from crying
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. swing — to play on
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. wind — moving air

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