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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: track · mark · clip · land · hand · chair · last · date

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. land — to come down
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mark — a grade
  6. clip — for paper
  7. last — to go on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. mark — a trace
  10. land — a country
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. date — the fruit
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. hand — in cards
  16. last — finally
  17. track — to keep track
  18. clip — a video
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. land — ground
  21. track — a path
  22. chair — a leader
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. last — final

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