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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: lash · trunk · capital · clip · hide · branch · kid · ball

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. capital — a city
  3. clip — for paper
  4. capital — money
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a great time
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. branch — a division
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. clip — to cut
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. kid — to tease
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. branch — of a bank

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