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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: cold · hand · mine · bulb · can · bark · foot · rule

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bulb — for light
  3. rule — a law
  4. can — a tin
  5. bulb — for light
  6. foot — a measure
  7. hand — in cards
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. rule — government
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mine — for digging
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. can — a tin
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. can — to be able to
  22. cold — not warm
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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