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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 120 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: trunk · firm · cold · kid · kick · track

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. kid — child
  3. firm — a company
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. track — to keep track
  7. kid — to tease
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. cold — an illness
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. track — a song
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. cold — not warm
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. firm — decided
  17. kick — in football
  18. firm — steady

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