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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 120 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: court · nail · bear · stand · trunk · wind · kid · hand

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. hand — in cards
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. stand — to bear
  5. bear — the animal
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. kid — child
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. court — of law
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. court — of a king
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. bear — the animal
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. wind — moving air
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. hand — help
  24. stand — for spectators

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