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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: cold · fall · deal · tube · bulb · jam · perch · key

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. fall — to drop
  3. key — the most important part
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. fall — the season
  11. key — for a lock
  12. tube — the underground
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. deal — to handle
  16. bulb — for light
  17. key — in music
  18. perch — the fish
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. tube — a container
  23. bulb — for light
  24. jam — a tight spot

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