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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: coach · ball · bat · clip · chair · bore · kick · land

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. land — a country
  3. kick — in football
  4. land — ground
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. clip — a video
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. clip — for paper
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. bore — to tire
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. bat — the animal
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. land — to come down
  23. clip — to cut
  24. ball — a dance

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