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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 · date · pop · can · band · shower · root · bulb

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. can — a tin
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. shower — rain
  5. bulb — for light
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bulb — for light
  9. can — to be able to
  10. shower — to wash
  11. root — of a plant
  12. pop — music
  13. can — a tin
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. pop — to visit
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a ring
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. root — of a word
  21. band — a music group
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pop — soda
  24. root — the cause

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