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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 · drill · sharp · perch · bulb · ground · bound · tube

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bound — certain
  5. sharp — clever
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. tube — a container
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — the earth
  13. drill — army training
  14. bound — obliged
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bulb — for light
  21. drill — a practice
  22. tube — the underground
  23. cold — not warm
  24. perch — the fish

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