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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: bear · spell · file · rush · bay · clip · roll · trunk

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. roll — a cake
  3. file — a tool
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. spell — letters
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. clip — a video
  9. spell — magic
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — the animal
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. rush — hurry
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a line of people
  20. clip — to cut
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. clip — for paper
  23. spell — a short time
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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