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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: date · land · racket · mine · clip · season · sharp · squash

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. land — a country
  3. squash — to crush
  4. clip — to cut
  5. sharp — clever
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. clip — for paper
  8. land — to come down
  9. season — of the year
  10. mine — for digging
  11. squash — the sport
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. clip — a video
  18. season — in sport
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. land — ground
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. date — the fruit
  24. racket — a loud noise

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