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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 · clip · date · degree · coach · straw · snap · rash

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. clip — for paper
  6. snap — to click
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. land — ground
  11. land — to come down
  12. clip — to cut
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. clip — a video
  15. degree — an amount
  16. rash — hasty
  17. date — the fruit
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. rash — a series
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. coach — a trainer

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