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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. clip — for paper
  3. lie — to recline
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hand — help
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. land — to come down
  9. clip — to cut
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. mark — a trace
  12. ball — a great time
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. hand — in cards
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. ball — a dance
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. clip — a video
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. land — a country
  23. mark — a grade
  24. wound — an injury

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