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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: clip · cap · straw · mark · pit · spell · trunk · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pit — in a race
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — of ice
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. spell — a short time
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. pit — a hole
  16. mark — a trace
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. kid — child
  19. spell — magic
  20. cap — a lid
  21. mark — a grade
  22. clip — a video
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. spell — letters

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