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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: drill · snap · trunk · mine · clip · hide · swing · plane

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. clip — a video
  3. drill — a practice
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. clip — for paper
  9. swing — music
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. drill — army training
  13. clip — to cut
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. plane — a tool
  18. drill — the tool
  19. mine — for digging
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. swing — to play on
  22. snap — to click
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. swing — in golf

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