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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 · hand · snap · wind · bay · leaves · clip · ball

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. clip — for paper
  7. hand — help
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. land — ground
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — to cut
  16. land — to come down
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. land — a country
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. hand — in cards
  23. clip — a video
  24. snap — to click

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