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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: pit · clip · land · saw · press · row · tube · hand

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. hand — in cards
  4. clip — a video
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — a country
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. land — ground
  10. clip — for paper
  11. hand — help
  12. pit — in a race
  13. press — newspapers
  14. pit — a hole
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. press — to push
  17. land — to come down
  18. tube — the underground
  19. tube — a container
  20. row — to paddle
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. press — a publisher
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. row — a line

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