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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: ground · trunk · clip · content · hand · chair · mine · can

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. can — to be able to
  7. can — a tin
  8. hand — help
  9. ground — a position
  10. chair — a leader
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. content — happy
  15. hand — in cards
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. clip — for paper
  18. ground — the earth
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. mine — for digging
  22. can — a tin
  23. clip — a video
  24. ground — crushed

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