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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: band · stick · track · nail · bulb · spring · leaves · cold

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. bulb — for light
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. spring — the season
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. track — a path
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. band — a music group
  12. track — a song
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. spring — of water
  15. cold — an illness
  16. band — a ring
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. nail — for a hammer
  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