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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.

Words on the sheet
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: race · scale · cold · lean · spell · content · arm · bulb

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spell — magic
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. scale — in music
  6. content — happy
  7. cold — an illness
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. scale — size or range
  11. race — a contest
  12. content — the amount
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lean — thin
  15. bulb — for light
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bulb — for light
  18. lean — to bend
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spell — letters
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. race — the arms race
  23. spell — a short time
  24. race — humankind

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