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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. land — a country
  3. key — for a lock
  4. key — in music
  5. land — ground
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. key — the most important part
  9. clip — for paper
  10. land — to come down
  11. fall — the season
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. perch — the fish
  17. pass — a permit
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. clip — a video
  20. fall — to drop
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bat — the animal

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