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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 · lash · suit · bowl · clip · tear · key · cold

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. clip — to cut
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. key — in music
  7. clip — for paper
  8. land — to come down
  9. suit — to fit
  10. tear — to rip
  11. key — for a lock
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. land — a country
  18. clip — a video
  19. suit — clothes
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. suit — in cards
  23. key — the most important part
  24. tear — from crying

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