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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: mate · bulb · rash · hand · band · pass · cold · spring

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — for light
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mate — a partner
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. mate — a friend
  15. pass — a permit
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. spring — of water
  18. rash — a series
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. band — a ring
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. mate — to breed
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — the season

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