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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.

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: ball · march · bulb · game · cold · rush · charge · perch

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. charge — a price
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bulb — for light
  5. march — music
  6. game — a match
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. ball — a dance
  14. ball — a great time
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. cold — not warm
  17. charge — electricity
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. charge — in control
  21. bulb — for light
  22. march — the month
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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