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

Word bank: chest · straw · kick · bear · snap · wind

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. snap — to click
  4. chest — a box
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. kick — in football
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bear — the animal
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. wind — moving air

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