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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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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 · clip · straw · mate · snap · key · cell · lie

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mate — a partner
  4. key — in music
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. key — the most important part
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cell — a phone
  12. clip — a video
  13. cell — in biology
  14. clip — for paper
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. lie — to recline
  17. key — for a lock
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. snap — to click
  20. mate — a friend
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. cell — in a prison

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