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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: march · cold · kick · straw · key · wax · ground · trunk

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. cold — an illness
  3. ground — a position
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. kick — in football
  6. march — the month
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. key — for a lock
  11. key — the most important part
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. ground — crushed
  14. key — in music
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. ground — the earth
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. march — music

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