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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: plane · pound · present · band · cold · bat · rush · bulb

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — hurry
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. band — a ring
  13. band — a music group
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. plane — a tool
  17. present — there
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. present — a gift
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. present — the time now
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — a weight
  24. rush — a thrill

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