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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. net — for catching
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. land — a country
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. land — ground
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. clip — to cut
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. net — after costs
  16. plane — a tool
  17. net — in sport
  18. pop — soda
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. pop — music
  21. chair — a leader
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. pop — to visit
  24. branch — a division

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