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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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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: pitcher · bowl · clip · trunk · nail · kid · bulb · spell

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. spell — magic
  6. kid — child
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. bulb — for light
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. clip — a video
  15. bulb — for light
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. spell — a short time
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. spell — letters
  24. bulb — of a plant

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