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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 120 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 · plane · shower · pitcher · march · saw · cold · present

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cold — an illness
  3. march — music
  4. saw — the tool
  5. march — the month
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. present — there
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. present — a gift
  11. shower — rain
  12. saw — the tool
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. bulb — for light
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. present — the time now
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. plane — a tool
  24. pitcher — a jug

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