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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: cold · bulb · content · bear · wind · squash · coach · bound

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. content — happy
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bound — certain
  6. bear — the animal
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. wind — moving air
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. squash — the sport
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bear — the animal
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. cold — an illness
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. squash — to crush
  23. content — the amount
  24. wind — to turn a key

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