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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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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: clip · trunk · stand · chip · spell · branch · cap · kid

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. cap — a hat
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. clip — to cut
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — to tease
  9. branch — a division
  10. kid — child
  11. cap — a lid
  12. clip — a video
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. chip — for betting
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — letters
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cap — of ice
  21. spell — a short time
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. stand — to bear

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