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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: lean · date · bulb · hand · cold · spring · ball · toast

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cold — not warm
  4. spring — of water
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. hand — in cards
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. toast — bread
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. hand — help
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — the fruit
  15. bulb — for light
  16. lean — to bend
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. ball — a dance
  23. lean — thin
  24. cold — an illness

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