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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.

Words on the sheet
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: trunk · field · clip · file · bank · bat · chair · net

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. file — a line of people
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. bank — of a river
  7. bank — for money
  8. net — after costs
  9. file — a tool
  10. field — for sport
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. net — for catching
  16. bank — for money
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. file — a document
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bat — the animal
  21. chair — a leader
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. net — in sport

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