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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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468
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: clip · bowl · wound · trunk · present · craft · file · mine

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  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. present — there
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. craft — boats
  6. file — a tool
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. clip — a video
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. present — the time now
  13. mine — for digging
  14. file — a document
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. craft — a skill
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. file — a line of people
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wound — an injury
  21. present — a gift
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a tree
  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