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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: bulb · bay · bowl · file · cold · rush · chest · bear

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. file — a tool
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. chest — of your body
  16. file — a line of people
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. file — a document
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — the animal
  24. chest — a box

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