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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 120 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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. kid — to tease
  5. object — a thing
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. snap — to click
  8. court — of a king
  9. kid — child
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. court — for sport
  12. court — of law
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. object — to protest
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. object — an aim
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. stem — to come from
  24. clip — for paper

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