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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: kid · dip · bulb · scale · spring · cell · roll · content

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. content — happy
  6. roll — a cake
  7. spring — of water
  8. content — the amount
  9. cell — a phone
  10. scale — in music
  11. spring — the season
  12. cell — in biology
  13. roll — a list
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. dip — to sink
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. bulb — for light
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. spring — a coil
  22. scale — size or range
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. bulb — for light

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