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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 120 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: field · stick · clip · land · net · chip · bear · hand

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. net — for catching
  4. land — to come down
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. hand — help
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. chip — to eat
  9. clip — to cut
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. bear — the animal
  12. chip — for betting
  13. bear — the animal
  14. land — a country
  15. clip — a video
  16. field — farmland
  17. land — ground
  18. clip — for paper
  19. net — in sport
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. hand — in cards
  24. net — after costs

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