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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — a country
  6. bound — obliged
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bound — tied together
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. clip — for paper
  12. snap — to click
  13. pass — a permit
  14. bound — certain
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. clip — to cut
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. band — a ring
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. band — a music group
  24. land — to come down

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