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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 116 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: bay · kid · rush · net · kick · stand · trunk · clip

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. stand — to bear
  4. rush — hurry
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. net — for catching
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. clip — to cut
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. clip — a video
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. clip — for paper
  19. kick — in football
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. kick — with a leg

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