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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — ground
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. field — a subject
  10. cap — of ice
  11. clip — to cut
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. cap — a hat
  15. land — to come down
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. land — a country
  18. ball — a dance
  19. plane — a tool
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. ball — a great time
  23. clip — for paper
  24. lash — an eyelash

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