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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ball · clip · mine · land · stick · chair · lash · march

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. clip — for paper
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. march — the month
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. land — a country
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. clip — a video
  12. march — music
  13. ball — a dance
  14. land — ground
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. mine — for digging
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. clip — to cut
  21. land — to come down
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. march — the month
  24. ball — a great time

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