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

Word bank: rule · bulb · bowl · cold · calf · mine · straw · trunk

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. rule — government
  7. cold — an illness
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. rule — a law
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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