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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: club · rule · bay · calf · kid · trunk · hand · bat

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. club — for dancing
  6. rule — a law
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. rule — government
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. kid — to tease
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. club — for golf
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. club — a group
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. kid — child
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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