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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: kick · lash · can · chest · spring · trunk · bat · march

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. spring — the season
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. can — to be able to
  20. can — a tin
  21. can — a tin
  22. march — music
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — the animal

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