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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: hand · chest · spell · fork · mouse · bulb · ball · cold

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. spell — magic
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. bulb — for light
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. chest — of your body
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. ball — a dance
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. chest — a box
  14. hand — in cards
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — a short time
  17. ball — a great time
  18. spell — letters
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. fork — in a road
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. chest — of your body

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