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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: wake · cabinet · land · bound · race · clip · spell · net

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. land — a country
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — ground
  6. net — after costs
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — a contest
  9. net — for catching
  10. spell — magic
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bound — tied together
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wake — a trail
  16. spell — letters
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. spell — a short time
  19. net — in sport
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bound — certain
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. land — to come down

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