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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: clip · mine · pit · deal · ball · hand · coach · ground

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. deal — to handle
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. pit — a hole
  5. clip — to cut
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. ball — a great time
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. clip — for paper
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. ball — a dance
  15. hand — in cards
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. ground — crushed
  19. pit — in a race
  20. mine — for digging
  21. ground — a position
  22. coach — a trainer
  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