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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: march · clip · bulb · pitch · sharp · content · bear · shower

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bulb — for light
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bulb — for light
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. sharp — clever
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. pitch — completely
  11. clip — for paper
  12. content — the amount
  13. bear — the animal
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. content — happy
  18. bear — the animal
  19. shower — rain
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. clip — to cut
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — a video
  24. content — videos and posts

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