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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: bat · row · straw · trunk · race · bank

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. bank — for money
  5. bat — the animal
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. race — humankind
  9. bank — for money
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. race — the arms race
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bank — of a river
  17. row — a line
  18. trunk — of a car

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