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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: rush · rash · land · cold · bulb · perch · wake · arm

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. land — a country
  3. wake — a trail
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — a series
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. land — to come down
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bulb — for light
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. land — ground
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. perch — the fish

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