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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: cold · ball · firm · spring · bark · chair · bulb · bat

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. bat — in an idiom
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bat — the animal
  9. firm — a company
  10. firm — decided
  11. spring — the season
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. firm — steady
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. ball — a dance
  16. spring — of water
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. ball — a great time
  23. bark — to shout
  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