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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 · cell · clip · pound · pit · snap · bank · land

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. snap — to click
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. kid — child
  5. land — to come down
  6. kid — to tease
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. pit — a hole
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. cell — in biology
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pit — in a race
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. clip — a video
  16. cell — a phone
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper
  19. land — a country
  20. bank — for money
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. land — ground
  23. pound — a weight
  24. bank — for money

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