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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 116 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: march · bat · spring · cold · chip · wake · bulb · dip

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. spring — of water
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. bulb — for light
  6. wake — a trail
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. chip — for betting
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. chip — to eat
  11. march — music
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. spring — the season
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cold — not warm
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. cold — an illness
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. dip — to sink
  24. spring — a coil

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