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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 120 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: hand · last · land · wind · sharp · clip · mug · trunk

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. land — to come down
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — a country
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mug — to rob
  11. clip — for paper
  12. last — to go on
  13. hand — help
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. last — final
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mug — a cup
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. sharp — clever
  21. land — ground
  22. last — finally
  23. mug — a face
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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