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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 116 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: shower · bulb · hand · trunk · mine · band · mate · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mine — for digging
  7. shower — rain
  8. hand — help
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mate — a friend
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. hand — in cards
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mate — a partner
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — for light
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. mate — to breed
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. band — a ring

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