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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: wound · land · fork · content · clip · track · suit · straw

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  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. track — a path
  3. wound — an injury
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. clip — a video
  6. wound — an injury
  7. suit — clothes
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. land — ground
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. clip — for paper
  12. track — to keep track
  13. content — happy
  14. suit — to fit
  15. fork — in a road
  16. suit — in cards
  17. track — a song
  18. content — the amount
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. land — to come down
  23. fork — a garden tool
  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