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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: file · lean · clip · bore · cold · kick · trunk · foot

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — to bend
  4. file — a document
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. clip — for paper
  7. file — a line of people
  8. kick — in football
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bore — to tire
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. file — a tool
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bore — to drill
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. clip — a video
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. cold — not warm
  22. lean — thin
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. trunk — of a tree

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