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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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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: cold · bulb · tear · wax · rest · swing · pass · root

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cold — not warm
  5. root — of a word
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. swing — in golf
  9. pass — a permit
  10. tear — to rip
  11. swing — music
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. wax — to grow
  15. root — of a plant
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. tear — from crying
  18. root — the cause
  19. swing — to play on
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. bulb — for light
  23. rest — what's left
  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