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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wax · lie · pitcher · kid · prune · bark · trunk · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. kid — to tease
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. kid — child
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bark — to shout
  22. wax — to grow
  23. lie — to recline
  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