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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: wind · row · bulb · ground · tube · content · cold · fan

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. tube — a container
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. cold — not warm
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bulb — for light
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — a position
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a line
  14. content — the amount
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. wind — moving air
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cold — an illness
  19. ground — the earth
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bulb — for light
  22. content — happy
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cold — the Cold War

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