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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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468
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: cold · bulb · bowl · pound · tube · court · craft · scale

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. craft — a skill
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. tube — a container
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. craft — boats
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. scale — in music
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. court — of law
  16. tube — the underground
  17. cold — an illness
  18. court — for sport
  19. pound — a weight
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — for light
  22. court — of a king
  23. scale — size or range
  24. bowl — a football final

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