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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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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: bear · land · ground · net · roll · clip · shower · pit

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. ground — the earth
  3. shower — rain
  4. shower — to wash
  5. land — ground
  6. bear — the animal
  7. pit — in a race
  8. roll — a cake
  9. land — to come down
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — in sport
  13. clip — a video
  14. ground — a position
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. net — for catching
  18. ground — crushed
  19. land — a country
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. clip — to cut
  22. roll — a list
  23. pit — a hole
  24. bear — the animal

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