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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: cold · snap · straw · fine · field · kick · trunk · root

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. fine — high quality
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. root — the cause
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. cold — an illness
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. field — for sport
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. root — of a word
  20. root — of a plant
  21. field — a subject
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fine — all right
  24. field — farmland

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