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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · clip · wax · pit · march · wound · club · cabinet

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. land — a country
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. march — the month
  7. pit — in a race
  8. clip — to cut
  9. club — for golf
  10. land — ground
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. wound — an injury
  13. clip — a video
  14. wax — to grow
  15. clip — for paper
  16. march — the month
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — music
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. pit — a hole
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. club — for dancing
  24. club — a group

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