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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: current · rock · trunk · wake · clip · land · pitch · mine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. land — to come down
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. land — a country
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. mine — for digging
  7. rock — music
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. current — of water
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. current — happening now
  13. land — ground
  14. wake — a trail
  15. clip — for paper
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. clip — to cut
  21. current — electric
  22. pitch — completely
  23. rock — a stone
  24. mine — an explosive

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