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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 120 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: bass · clip · field · lash · plane · mine · press · land

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. mine — for digging
  6. land — a country
  7. field — for sport
  8. bass — low music
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. land — ground
  11. press — a publisher
  12. clip — for paper
  13. field — farmland
  14. press — to push
  15. bass — the fish
  16. clip — to cut
  17. field — a subject
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. clip — a video
  20. plane — a tool
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. land — to come down
  24. press — newspapers

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