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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: land · trunk · bulb · can · kid · pitcher · mine · sharp

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. can — to be able to
  6. land — a country
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bulb — for light
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. mine — for digging
  13. sharp — clever
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. can — a tin
  17. kid — child
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. land — ground
  21. land — to come down
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. can — a tin

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