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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: rash · mark · tear · staff · clip · snap · chair · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mark — a grade
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. chair — a leader
  7. staff — employees
  8. clip — a video
  9. mark — a trace
  10. staff — employees
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. snap — to click
  14. rash — a series
  15. tear — from crying
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. tear — to rip
  18. rash — hasty
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. staff — a stick
  22. tear — from crying
  23. clip — for paper
  24. land — a country

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