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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: stand · bulb · pop · face · cold · hand · content · foot

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pop — music
  7. cold — an illness
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. pop — soda
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. content — the amount
  12. stand — to bear
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. bulb — for light
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. hand — in cards
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to confront
  19. foot — a measure
  20. bulb — for light
  21. hand — help
  22. content — happy
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. pop — to visit

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