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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.

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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: temple · race · game · bulb · perch · bound · march · cold

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bulb — for light
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bulb — for light
  9. cold — an illness
  10. race — a contest
  11. march — music
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. march — the month
  14. race — the arms race
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. perch — the fish
  17. race — humankind
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. bound — tied together
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bound — certain
  23. march — the month
  24. perch — for a bird

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