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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 · court · drill · straw · suit · chest · clip · stem

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. suit — clothes
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. chest — of your body
  5. suit — to fit
  6. drill — army training
  7. suit — in cards
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. clip — to cut
  10. drill — the tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — of law
  13. clip — a video
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. court — for sport
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. drill — a practice
  21. court — of a king
  22. chest — a box
  23. clip — for paper
  24. stem — to come from

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