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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: straw · pop · stand · cold · trunk · fork · bay · patient

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. pop — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stand — to bear
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pop — to visit
  17. fork — in a road
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. pop — soda
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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