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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 · bat · pit · face · clip · calf · chair · swing

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. chair — a leader
  3. land — to come down
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. land — a country
  6. swing — to play on
  7. land — ground
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pit — a hole
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. pit — in a race
  15. bat — the animal
  16. clip — for paper
  17. swing — music
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. clip — a video
  21. face — part of the head
  22. swing — in golf
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — to confront

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