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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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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: mine · clip · rush · kid · nail · stock · trunk · land

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. 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. stock — shares
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. land — ground
  6. kid — to tease
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. land — a country
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. clip — to cut
  12. kid — child
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. stock — goods
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. rush — hurry
  21. land — to come down
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. 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