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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.

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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: bat · lie · swing · cold · bark · pit · rash · bulb

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bark — to shout
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. swing — in golf
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lie — to recline
  8. swing — to play on
  9. pit — a hole
  10. rash — a series
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cold — not warm
  13. swing — music
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bat — the animal
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pit — in a race

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