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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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468
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: leaves · land · chair · clip · stick · spell · toast · lean

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. land — ground
  3. land — a country
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. spell — letters
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. spell — a short time
  9. toast — bread
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. lean — thin
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. land — to come down
  16. spell — magic
  17. lean — to bend
  18. clip — to cut
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. clip — a video
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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