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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: bank · march · rest · cold · fan · bulb · content · plane

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. march — the month
  3. content — happy
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. bulb — for light
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. cold — not warm
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. bank — for money
  12. bulb — for light
  13. rest — what's left
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. rest — a break
  16. content — the amount
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bank — of a river
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. plane — a tool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bank — for money
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. plane — in geometry

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