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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: bulb · cold · pound · press · jam · kid · spring · march

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. pound — a weight
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. press — a publisher
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. kid — child
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. press — newspapers
  14. bulb — for light
  15. march — music
  16. bulb — for light
  17. press — to push
  18. spring — the season
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. cold — not warm
  21. spring — of water
  22. cold — an illness
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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