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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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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: snap · lean · tear · fall · season · clip · land · key

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. land — a country
  3. lean — to bend
  4. lean — thin
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. season — of the year
  8. land — ground
  9. clip — to cut
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fall — to drop
  15. clip — a video
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. tear — from crying
  18. season — in sport
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. fall — to drop
  21. key — in music
  22. land — to come down
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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