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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.

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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: bass · clip · mine · bear · land · lash · club · cell

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bass — low music
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — ground
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — a group
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bass — the fish
  14. land — a country
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bear — the animal
  17. land — to come down
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. club — for golf

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