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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. file — a tool
  3. clip — for paper
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. clip — to cut
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pit — in a race
  10. scale — in music
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. pit — a hole
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. file — a line of people
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. scale — size or range
  17. file — a document
  18. clip — a video

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