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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: lean · clip · net · board · trunk · ground · rule · land

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. rule — government
  4. land — a country
  5. board — a committee
  6. lean — thin
  7. net — in sport
  8. land — ground
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. ground — the earth
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. clip — to cut
  14. board — to get on
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. land — to come down
  17. clip — for paper
  18. lean — to bend
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — crushed
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. clip — a video
  24. rule — a law

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