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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 116 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: bark · bat · march · hand · straw · tube · key · calf

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. tube — a container
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bat — the animal
  9. key — for a lock
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. key — the most important part
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bark — to shout
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. march — the month
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. march — music
  23. key — in music
  24. hand — help

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