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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ball · racket · deal · wind · hand · spring · march · bulb

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — for light
  3. ball — a dance
  4. ball — a great time
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. spring — the season
  7. march — the month
  8. spring — of water
  9. deal — to handle
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. spring — a coil
  12. hand — help
  13. march — music
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. march — the month
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. hand — in cards

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