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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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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: season · bulb · wind · temple · cabinet · rock · race · cell

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. bulb — for light
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rock — music
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. race — humankind
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. bulb — for light
  16. race — a contest
  17. cell — in biology
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. race — the arms race
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. season — in sport
  22. rock — a stone
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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