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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. rock — a stone
  9. rock — music
  10. bat — the animal
  11. vault — a safe
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. kick — in football
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. file — a document
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. stem — to come from
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a tool

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