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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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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: tube · march · kid · cold · squash · straw · calf · craft

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. march — the month
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. march — the month
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cold — an illness
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. craft — a skill
  12. cold — not warm
  13. march — music
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. craft — boats
  17. squash — to crush
  18. tube — a container
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. tube — the underground
  21. kid — to tease
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. kid — child
  24. straw — a straw man

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