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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: hand · net · can · fork · land · roll · hide · clip

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. net — in sport
  3. clip — a video
  4. hand — in cards
  5. land — a country
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. net — for catching
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. clip — for paper
  13. land — to come down
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hand — help
  16. can — to be able to
  17. land — ground
  18. roll — a list
  19. roll — a cake
  20. clip — to cut
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — a tin
  24. net — after costs

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