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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: bulb · spring · stand · march · degree · bat · rash · squash

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. degree — temperature
  4. stand — to bear
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. bulb — for light
  10. rash — a series
  11. march — the month
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. spring — a coil
  14. march — the month
  15. bulb — for light
  16. squash — to crush
  17. march — music
  18. degree — an amount
  19. spring — the season
  20. rash — hasty
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. spring — of water
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. bat — the animal

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