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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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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: clip · stick · trunk · racket · bat · kid · wind · fine

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. fine — high quality
  9. kid — child
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. bat — the animal
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. kid — to tease
  19. fine — all right
  20. wind — moving air
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. clip — a video
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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