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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 116 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: leaves · land · dip · chair · swing · clip · band · fork

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  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. band — a music group
  2. clip — to cut
  3. land — a country
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. band — a ring
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. land — ground
  15. swing — music
  16. land — to come down
  17. clip — for paper
  18. dip — to sink
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  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