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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 116 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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. land — ground
  3. charge — a price
  4. rest — a break
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. charge — in control
  7. object — to protest
  8. last — finally
  9. charge — electricity
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rest — what's left
  12. net — after costs
  13. land — a country
  14. last — to go on
  15. object — an aim
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. land — to come down
  18. snap — to click
  19. clip — to cut
  20. net — for catching
  21. rest — what's left
  22. object — a thing
  23. last — final
  24. clip — a video

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