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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: leaves · trunk · lean · clip · perch · capital · kid · club

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  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. capital — a city
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. lean — thin
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. kid — child
  6. club — for dancing
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. lean — to bend
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. club — a group
  12. clip — for paper
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. perch — the fish
  15. club — for golf
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. capital — money
  20. clip — to cut
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. kid — to tease
  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