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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: roll · straw · can · march · chest · snap · band · trunk

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. chest — of your body
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. roll — a list
  6. band — a ring
  7. march — the month
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. snap — to click
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. march — the month
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. can — a tin
  21. can — to be able to
  22. can — a tin
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. march — music

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