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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: trunk · chest · row · key · craft · club · kid · ground

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. chest — of your body
  5. kid — child
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for dancing
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — the earth
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. kid — to tease
  13. ground — a position
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. club — for golf
  16. chest — of your body
  17. key — in music
  18. craft — a skill
  19. row — a line
  20. key — the most important part
  21. row — to paddle
  22. chest — a box
  23. key — for a lock
  24. trunk — of a tree

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