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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: mouse · straw · wound · race · wind · trunk · bat · drill

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. wound — an injury
  9. drill — the tool
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. bat — the animal
  14. drill — army training
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. drill — a practice
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wound — an injury
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — a contest
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. race — the arms race
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. wind — moving air

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