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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 116 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: racket · face · land · hide · clip · leaves · stand · snap

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. clip — a video
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. snap — to click
  11. face — to point toward
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. land — a country
  15. land — to come down
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. clip — for paper
  18. stand — to bear
  19. face — part of the head
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. face — to confront
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. clip — to cut
  24. leaves — lets stay

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