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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: hand · clip · cue · bay · present · kid · roll · bank

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. roll — a cake
  3. cue — a hint
  4. cue — a signal
  5. present — there
  6. cue — for pool
  7. roll — a list
  8. bank — for money
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. hand — help
  11. bank — of a river
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. clip — a video
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. present — the time now
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bank — for money
  22. hand — in cards
  23. present — a gift
  24. clip — for paper

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