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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: fan · bark · hand · ball · clip · cap · date · trunk

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. hand — in cards
  4. ball — a great time
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. hand — help
  11. cap — a lid
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. clip — for paper
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — a video
  16. cap — of ice
  17. date — the fruit
  18. ball — a dance
  19. cap — a hat
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bark — to shout
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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