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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
468
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: fall · clip · rash · bulb · present · bat · content · wound

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — for light
  6. clip — a video
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. present — there
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. present — the time now
  12. fall — the season
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wound — an injury
  16. fall — to drop
  17. rash — hasty
  18. wound — an injury
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. present — a gift
  22. rash — a series
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. content — videos and posts

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