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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: clip · march · patient · dip · trunk · kid · kick · stem

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. kid — to tease
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. dip — to sink
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. march — the month
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. march — music
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. march — the month
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. clip — to cut
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. kid — child
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. clip — for paper
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. clip — a video
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — 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