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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: fork · lean · straw · bat · calf · chest · file · jam

  1. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. bat — the animal
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. lean — to bend
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. file — a line of people
  8. chest — of your body
  9. file — a tool
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — in a road
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. lean — thin
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. chest — of your body
  19. file — a document
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. chest — a box

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