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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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Word bank
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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  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. stand — to bear
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rest — what's left
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. land — a country
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. rest — what's left
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pit — in a race
  16. rest — a break
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. pound — a weight
  19. land — ground
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chair — a leader
  22. pit — a hole
  23. wound — an injury
  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