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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: rush · clip · land · net · suit · ground · march · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. march — music
  3. chest — a box
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — a country
  6. rush — hurry
  7. net — after costs
  8. clip — for paper
  9. ground — a position
  10. net — for catching
  11. clip — to cut
  12. march — the month
  13. suit — clothes
  14. ground — crushed
  15. land — ground
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. chest — of your body
  18. march — the month
  19. suit — to fit
  20. suit — in cards
  21. ground — the earth
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. net — in sport
  24. land — to come down

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