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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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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: straw · calf · bear · tear · squash · cold · trunk · coach

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. squash — to crush
  3. bear — the animal
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. bear — the animal
  6. tear — to rip
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. squash — the sport
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. cold — an illness
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. tear — from crying
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. tear — from crying
  24. calf — of the leg

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