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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 116 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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. craft — boats
  3. cold — not warm
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. stand — to bear
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. hand — help
  10. kick — in football
  11. cold — an illness
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. craft — a skill
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. hand — in cards
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hand — part of the body

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