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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 · drill · pound · net · snap · kick · scale · straw

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. net — for catching
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. kick — in football
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. scale — size or range
  11. net — after costs
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. net — in sport
  16. scale — in music
  17. drill — army training
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. pound — a weight
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — the tool
  24. trunk — of a car

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