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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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 · clip · spring · cell

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. cell — in biology
  4. clip — a video
  5. spring — the season
  6. cell — a phone
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. spring — a coil
  11. clip — to cut
  12. 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