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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: wind · chair · trunk · clip · plane · snap · ground · stock

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wind — moving air
  4. plane — a tool
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. chair — a leader
  7. clip — for paper
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. ground — crushed
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. stock — shares
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. ground — a position
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. clip — a video
  17. snap — to click
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. stock — goods
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. ground — the earth
  24. wind — moving air

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