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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: hand · clip · kick · mark · kid · track · stem · bat

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. bat — the animal
  3. kick — in football
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mark — a grade
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. hand — in cards
  12. track — to keep track
  13. hand — help
  14. track — a song
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. track — a path
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. clip — to cut
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. stem — to come from
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kick — with a leg

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