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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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Word bank
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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: straw · craft · wind · leaves · kick · stock

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. stock — shares
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wind — moving air
  5. craft — boats
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. wind — moving air
  11. craft — a skill
  12. stock — goods
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. kick — in football
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. leaves — of a tree

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