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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: game · fan · squash · key · cold · wound · bulb · pop

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. pop — music
  3. bulb — for light
  4. squash — the sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. key — the most important part
  8. game — a match
  9. pop — to visit
  10. squash — to crush
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. bulb — for light
  13. key — for a lock
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. pop — soda
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. game — wild animals
  20. wound — an injury
  21. key — in music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fan — a supporter

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