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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: clip · fan · rest · land · season · capital · foot · fall

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. land — to come down
  4. clip — a video
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fall — to drop
  8. rest — a break
  9. fall — the season
  10. foot — a measure
  11. season — in sport
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. capital — money
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. rest — what's left
  22. capital — a city
  23. season — of the year
  24. season — to add flavour

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