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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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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 · tear · current · bat · bulb · pop · mark · branch

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. mark — a grade
  3. branch — a division
  4. bulb — for light
  5. pop — to visit
  6. tear — from crying
  7. current — electric
  8. cold — an illness
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. pop — music
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. current — of water
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cold — not warm
  17. current — happening now
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mark — a trace
  21. pop — soda
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. tear — to rip

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