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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: bat · snap · fan · face · content · pass · bulb · wind

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. face — to confront
  3. wind — moving air
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. content — happy
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. content — the amount
  10. face — to point toward
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. snap — to click
  14. face — part of the head
  15. bulb — for light
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. bat — the animal
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. bulb — for light
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pass — a permit

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