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

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. toast — bread
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. kid — child
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. clip — to cut
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. foot — a measure
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. snap — to click
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. clip — a video
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. branch — a division

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