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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: trunk · kick · wind · calf · game · straw · stock · mine

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. mine — for digging
  3. stock — shares
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. wind — moving air
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. stock — goods
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. game — wild animals
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. game — a match
  24. kick — in football

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