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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: land · coach · arm · rush · fine · bat · clip · cap

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. fine — all right
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. fine — high quality
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rush — hurry
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. land — a country
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. cap — of ice
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cap — a lid
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. bat — the animal
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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