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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: cold · spring · kick · bulb · bay · cue · content · field

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  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. cue — a signal
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. spring — of water
  5. bulb — for light
  6. spring — a coil
  7. field — for sport
  8. content — the amount
  9. cue — for pool
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. field — farmland
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. cue — a hint
  19. kick — in football
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. content — happy
  22. spring — the season
  23. field — a subject
  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