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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 120 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: bowl · field · land · mine · suit · clip · trunk · charge

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. suit — in cards
  3. suit — to fit
  4. charge — electricity
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. clip — to cut
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. clip — for paper
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. clip — a video
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. land — a country
  15. land — ground
  16. suit — clothes
  17. charge — in control
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. field — for sport
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. mine — for digging
  22. charge — a price
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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