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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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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: calf · pound · snap · bat · bass · trunk · kid · row

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bat — the animal
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. snap — to click
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bass — low music
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pound — a weight
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. kid — to tease
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. kid — child
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. pound — to hit hard

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