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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. chair — a leader
  4. clip — for paper
  5. kid — child
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. suit — clothes
  8. land — to come down
  9. fall — the season
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. clip — to cut
  12. suit — to fit
  13. hand — help
  14. kid — to tease
  15. hand — in cards
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. land — ground
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. fall — to drop
  21. clip — a video
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. suit — in cards
  24. fall — to drop

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