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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 · stock · mate · bay · kid · spring · bulb · wind

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. stock — goods
  4. kid — child
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wind — moving air
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — shares
  14. mate — to breed
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mate — a friend
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. bulb — for light
  24. trunk — of a tree

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