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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: trunk · firm · clip · track · row · rash · kid · fork

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fork — in a road
  3. clip — to cut
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. track — a path
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. track — a song
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. kid — to tease
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. rash — a series
  12. firm — steady
  13. kid — child
  14. firm — decided
  15. rash — hasty
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. track — to keep track
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. row — to paddle
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. firm — a company
  23. row — a line
  24. clip — a video

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