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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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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: chest · kick · cold · ball · pitcher · squash · trunk · stand

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  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. kick — in football
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stand — to bear
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. squash — to crush
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a great time
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. chest — of your body
  14. squash — the sport
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. ball — a dance
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cold — an illness
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. trunk — of a tree
  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