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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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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: tear · deal · land · bay · cold · key · wind · bulb

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. land — to come down
  3. wind — moving air
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bulb — for light
  7. deal — to handle
  8. key — for a lock
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bulb — for light
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. land — ground
  17. key — in music
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. key — the most important part
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. tear — from crying
  24. land — a country

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