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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: bat · key · clip · leaves · net · land · fall · wound

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. wound — an injury
  4. clip — to cut
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. land — a country
  9. net — in sport
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. land — ground
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wound — an injury
  14. clip — for paper
  15. net — after costs
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. key — in music
  20. land — to come down
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. clip — a video
  24. net — for catching

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