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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: straw · pop · rule · trunk · kid · wave · branch · club

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. rule — government
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — to visit
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. club — a group
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. pop — music
  18. club — for dancing
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. rule — a law
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. club — for golf
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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