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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: ball · row · clip · fan · hand · face · trunk · bore

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. face — to confront
  3. hand — help
  4. face — to point toward
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. ball — a great time
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. face — part of the head
  10. row — to paddle
  11. hand — in cards
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. bore — to tire
  17. clip — a video
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bore — to drill
  22. row — a line
  23. ball — a dance
  24. trunk — of a car

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