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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 120 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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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: kid · trunk · perch · clip · pound · file · lash · prune

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. kid — to tease
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. clip — to cut
  5. file — a document
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. clip — for paper
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. kid — child
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. clip — a video
  17. pound — a weight
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. perch — the fish
  21. file — a line of people
  22. prune — to trim
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. file — a tool

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