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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 120 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: trunk · staff · pound · clip · kid · rash · hand · bark

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — in cards
  6. clip — to cut
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. staff — a stick
  9. bark — to shout
  10. clip — a video
  11. kid — child
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. rash — a series
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — employees
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. hand — help
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. kid — to tease

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