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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
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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: hand · wave · leaves · land · club · clip · ground · root

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. clip — to cut
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. root — of a plant
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. root — the cause
  9. clip — for paper
  10. club — a group
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — help
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. club — for dancing
  15. land — to come down
  16. ground — a position
  17. club — for golf
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. ground — crushed
  20. clip — a video
  21. root — of a word
  22. land — a country
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. ground — the earth

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