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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: land · racket · chip · pop · mate · season · suit · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. suit — in cards
  3. season — in sport
  4. mate — a partner
  5. suit — to fit
  6. land — to come down
  7. pop — music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. chip — for betting
  11. mate — to breed
  12. clip — a video
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. season — of the year
  15. pop — soda
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. chip — to eat
  19. land — ground
  20. mate — a friend
  21. suit — clothes
  22. pop — to visit
  23. land — a country
  24. season — to add flavour

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