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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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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: bulb · ball · march · mouse · cap · content · cold · rush

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. march — the month
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. ball — a great time
  6. content — happy
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. bulb — for light
  10. rush — hurry
  11. ball — a dance
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a hat
  15. bulb — for light
  16. march — the month
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cap — a lid
  19. content — the amount
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. march — music
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. cold — an illness

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