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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: rash · lean · land · clip · saw · face · scale · season

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. land — to come down
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. lean — to bend
  6. scale — in music
  7. saw — the tool
  8. rash — a series
  9. saw — the tool
  10. scale — size or range
  11. season — of the year
  12. face — to confront
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. clip — a video
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. clip — for paper
  19. face — part of the head
  20. face — to point toward
  21. land — ground
  22. lean — thin
  23. season — in sport
  24. clip — to cut

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