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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.

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: mate · press · clip · dip · land · chair · mark · bat

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mate — a friend
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. mark — a grade
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. clip — for paper
  11. land — to come down
  12. mark — a trace
  13. press — a publisher
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. press — to push
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. clip — a video
  19. mate — to breed
  20. chair — a leader
  21. land — a country
  22. press — newspapers
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. dip — to sink

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