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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. craft — a skill
  7. staff — a stick
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. staff — employees
  14. craft — boats
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. staff — employees
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bass — low music
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — a law

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