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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: bay · cap · rule · field · roll · snap · trunk · clip

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. clip — to cut
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. snap — to click
  8. field — a subject
  9. roll — a cake
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. clip — for paper
  12. cap — a hat
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — a law
  19. clip — a video
  20. cap — of ice
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. field — for sport
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. bay — a horse colour

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