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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: last · wind · spring · cap · bulb · straw · perch · plane

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cap — of ice
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. spring — the season
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cap — a hat
  10. bulb — for light
  11. last — to go on
  12. perch — the fish
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cap — a lid
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. last — finally
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. wind — moving air
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. spring — of water
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. plane — a tool

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