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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: fall · land · sharp · kick · bore · clip · fork · row

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. land — a country
  3. kick — in football
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bore — to drill
  6. land — to come down
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. fork — in a road
  12. clip — a video
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. row — to paddle
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. fall — the season
  17. bore — to tire
  18. fall — to drop
  19. row — a line
  20. fall — to drop
  21. land — ground
  22. sharp — clever
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. sharp — with an edge

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