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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 116 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: lash · land · mark · chair · capital · clip

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. land — to come down
  3. mark — a trace
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. mark — a grade
  8. chair — a leader
  9. capital — a city
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. clip — for paper
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. capital — money

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