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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. craft — boats
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. spring — a coil
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. kid — child
  13. lean — to bend
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. craft — a skill
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. lean — thin
  22. spring — of water
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. spring — the season

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