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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: saw · track · bulb · rash · shower · jam · clip · cold

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cold — not warm
  7. track — a path
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. track — a song
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. track — to keep track
  14. clip — for paper
  15. shower — rain
  16. saw — the tool
  17. clip — a video
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rash — a series
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. clip — to cut
  22. shower — to wash
  23. bulb — for light
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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