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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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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: mate · bear · clip · bank · kid · trunk · field · pound

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — child
  4. mate — to breed
  5. bank — for money
  6. clip — for paper
  7. field — farmland
  8. mate — a friend
  9. pound — a weight
  10. bank — for money
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. clip — a video
  14. field — a subject
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. field — for sport
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. kid — to tease
  22. bank — of a river
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pound — for dogs

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