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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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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: row · cold · tear · bulb · club · leaves · march · land

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. club — for dancing
  6. bulb — for light
  7. tear — from crying
  8. land — ground
  9. cold — not warm
  10. club — a group
  11. land — a country
  12. cold — an illness
  13. club — for golf
  14. bulb — for light
  15. land — to come down
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tear — from crying
  19. row — to paddle
  20. march — the month
  21. tear — to rip
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. row — a line
  24. row — a quarrel

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