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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: trunk · fan · straw · clip · racket · kid · hide · bat

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. clip — a video
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. clip — to cut
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. kid — to tease
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bat — the animal
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. kid — child
  24. clip — for paper

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