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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: land · plane · hand · mine · pound · mouse · rest · clip

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. hand — help
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. pound — a weight
  8. plane — a tool
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. mine — for digging
  13. clip — a video
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. clip — to cut
  16. land — ground
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. land — a country
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hand — in cards
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — a break
  24. hand — part of the body

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