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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: trunk · mate · bulb · calf · cold · court · straw · craft

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — for light
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. court — for sport
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. craft — boats
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. cold — not warm
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. court — of law
  17. mate — a friend
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. craft — a skill
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. court — of a king

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