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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. land — to come down
  2. hand — help
  3. fine — high quality
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. land — a country
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. key — in music
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. clip — to cut
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. clip — for paper
  16. key — the most important part
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. key — for a lock
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. fine — all right
  21. sharp — clever
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. land — ground
  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