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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 116 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: clip · bat · cabinet · ground · last · suit · tube · land

  1. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. suit — clothes
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. tube — a container
  7. ground — a position
  8. tube — the underground
  9. clip — for paper
  10. land — a country
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. land — ground
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. last — to go on
  17. land — to come down
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. suit — to fit
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. bat — the animal
  22. ground — crushed
  23. clip — a video
  24. ground — the earth

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