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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: ground · club · trunk · content · pitcher · clip · kid · squash

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. club — for golf
  3. squash — to crush
  4. clip — for paper
  5. ground — the earth
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. club — for dancing
  12. ground — a position
  13. content — happy
  14. club — a group
  15. kid — child
  16. clip — a video
  17. squash — the sport
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. ground — crushed
  20. kid — to tease
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. content — the amount
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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