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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: kid · clip · trunk · field · kick · press · cabinet · band

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. kid — child
  3. field — a subject
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. field — farmland
  6. clip — a video
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. kick — in football
  9. kid — to tease
  10. clip — to cut
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. band — a music group
  14. press — to push
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. press — newspapers
  17. field — for sport
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. press — a publisher
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. clip — for paper
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  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