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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: chest · mouse · snap · leaves · straw · wind · craft · lash

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. wind — moving air
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. craft — a skill
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. chest — a box
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. chest — of your body
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. snap — to click
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. straw — dry grass

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