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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: hand · coach · sharp · snap · kid · trunk · pit · row

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. row — a line
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. kid — child
  8. row — to paddle
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. kid — to tease
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. hand — help
  21. pit — in a race
  22. hand — in cards
  23. snap — to click
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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