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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: clip · mine · land · rock · plane · chest · coach · lie

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. chest — of your body
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mine — for digging
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — to recline
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. rock — music
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. land — a country
  14. plane — a tool
  15. chest — of your body
  16. land — ground
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. chest — a box
  19. land — to come down
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. rock — a stone
  24. clip — a video

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