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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mine — for digging
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. mate — to breed
  12. root — of a word
  13. bulb — for light
  14. mate — a partner
  15. root — the cause
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bulb — for light
  20. kid — child
  21. fall — to drop
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. root — of a plant

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