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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.

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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: last · race · foot · cold · bulb · spring · mouse · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. last — to go on
  3. cold — not warm
  4. last — finally
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. bulb — for light
  7. cold — an illness
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. race — a contest
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. spring — a coil
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. race — the arms race
  19. last — final
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. race — humankind
  22. spring — of water
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. spring — the season

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