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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: straw · craft · trunk · land · clip · last · lean · game

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. last — final
  5. game — a match
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. craft — a skill
  10. clip — to cut
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. game — wild animals
  16. last — finally
  17. lean — to bend
  18. clip — for paper
  19. last — to go on
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. lean — thin
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. land — a country
  24. craft — boats

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