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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · clip · lash · bark · mine · mug · root · bat

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. land — ground
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. root — of a plant
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. land — to come down
  13. mug — to rob
  14. bark — to shout
  15. root — of a word
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mug — a cup
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. mug — a face
  22. root — the cause
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. land — a country

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